TRUMP’S AID FREEZE COULD CAUSE MILLIONS MORE AIDS – UN AGENCY
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The head of the UN’s AIDS program said Sunday that millions more people could die from AIDS as a result of President Donald Trump’s decision to halt US funding for missions abroad.
With the majority of its funding going through the United States Agency for International Development (USAID), the United States is the largest official development assistance provider in the world.
When Trump took office again in January, he ordered that the majority of US foreign aid be suspended for three months, leaving humanitarians around the world to deal with the consequences.
“It’s dramatic in many countries,” UNAIDS executive director Winnie Byanyima told AFP.
“I need to sound the alarm so that it’s very clear that this is a big part (of AIDS relief funding). If it goes away, people are going to die.”
The US move included a 90-day suspension of all work by the President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR), although his administration later issued waivers for medication under the programme.
That programme supports more than 20 million HIV patients and 270,000 health workers, according to an analysis from the Foundation for AIDS Research (amfAR).
“We could see additional deaths increasing by tenfold” to 6.3 million in five years, Byanyima said, citing UNAIDS estimates.
“Or we could see new infections increase up to 8.7 million” in the same period, she said.
The United States has said that “life-saving treatments” would be exempt from the freeze — although front-line workers in Africa say facilities have already closed.
Speaking on the sidelines of the African Union summit in the Ethiopian capital Addis Ababa, Byanyima said she had discussed the issue with leaders, urging them to transition from foreign funding towards using domestic revenue.
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