Two weeks after President Trump freezes on foreign aid, HIV groups abroad did not receive any funding, exposing more than 20 million people, including 500,000 children. Subsequent exemptions from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs showed that the work can continue, but the funds and legal papers to do so are still missing.
with Near the closing of the US Aid Agency Experts have warned that he is known as the United States Agency for International Development and summoning the officers published abroad, there is no great hope to solve the situation quickly.
HIV treatment and services have been funded through the President’s Emergency Emergency Plan, or PePFar, a $ 7.5 billion program that was frozen alongside all external aid on the first day of Mr. Trump in his position.
Since its inception in 2003 during the George W. Bush administration, Pepfar has provided a treatment to save life of up to 25 million people in 54 countries and enjoyed the support of the two parties. The program was due to a five -year re -mandate in 2023; He survived the efforts of some Republicans in the House of Representatives to end it and have been renewed for one year.
Without treatment, millions of people with HIV will be at risk of severe disease Early death. Loss of treatment also threatens the unlike dramatic progress made by HIV in recent years and can stimulate the emergence of drug -resistant HIV strains; Each result can have a global impact, including in the United States.
Christine Stigning, Deputy Executive Director of the United Nations Department of the United Nations, said that the temporary suspension in aid and the United States Agency for International Development has handed over a “shock in the system.”
“You now need to know how you can work with the system as it is, to make sure that what is possible in theory will actually happen,” she said.
On January 28, Foreign Minister Marco Rubio issued a waiver of life -saving medications and medical services, which apparently allows the distribution of HIV drugs. But the concession did not call Pepfar, leaving the organizations of the recipients awaiting clarity.
On Sunday, the abdication of the other Ministry of Foreign Affairs said more clearly that it would cover the HIV and treatment virus test as well as prevention and treatment of opportunistic infections such as tuberculosis, according to a memorandum seen by the New York Times. The memorandum did not include the prevention of HIV – with the exception of pregnant women and breastfeeding – or to support orphan children.
Despite the financing of Pepfar by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, two -thirds of grants are implemented through the United States Agency for International Development and Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. None of the Foundation has issued money for granting since the start of the freezing.
in interview With the Washington Post, Mr. Rubio seemed to blame receiving organizations for not behaving, saying he had “real questions about the efficiency of” groups. “I wonder if they intentionally tell her for a political point,” he said.
But the experts familiar with the requirements of Pepfar said that his comments respect the complexity of the approval system.
“The correspondence and guidance from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs reveal ignorance of how these programs work – and the absence of disturbing sympathy for millions of lives at risk,” said Geeer Reem, who served as chief of staff in Pipvar in the Biden administration.
For example, the orders of stopping work forced each program to stop immediately. Organizations are now legally required to wait for explicit instructions as much and cannot move forward on the basis of a public note, according to a senior official in a major global health organization receiving Pepfar funds.
The official said: “We have to wait until we get individual messages in every project that tells us not only we can start work, but tell us about the work that we can start with the amount of money.” The official asked not to be called fear of revenge; 90 percent of the organization’s money comes from PePfar.
Freezing also disrupts the network of smaller institutions that provide HIV treatment and services in low -income countries.
Dr. Stella Busayer, Executive Director of the African Center for Health and Justice, said.
At least 70 organizations were reported about HIV and treatment disorders, 41 said that some programs were closed. “Without immediate intervention, this funding may lead to devastating repercussions in the progress of public health.”
In Kenya, 40,000 doctors, nurses and other health workers were affected by freezing, according to McKenzi Nols Corsen, who was the deputy head of communications at the American mission in Nairobi until Monday. In South Africa, the stopping of funding will affect the salaries of more than 15,000 health workers and health operations throughout the country, said the country’s Minister of Health, Aaron Motwalli, during a televised press conference last week.
Some organizations rely on a set of grants, with a stream of financing from a donor that is applied to the purchase of medicines and another flow that is applied to payment staff. The source interruption can cause clinics, which leaves them without medications to distribute them or workers to distribute them.
The main Uganda Union, an umbrella organization that provides HIV treatment and other services, lost 70 percent of its financing. It closed 30 of 54 centers across the country, distributing medicines, and has completed the contracts of 28 of the 35 employees.
The organization has received about $ 200,000 annually from the Center for Disease Control through the Institute of Infectious Diseases at the University of Mickere, in addition to a $ 8 million grant over five years from the United States Agency for International Development, where the latter provided housing and employment assistance, including gay and transgender people It was closed to Mr. Trump’s executive order on diversity, fairness, integration and access.
In 2023, Uganda Enact a comprehensive law This sex is a criminal consent between adults of the same sex and made relationships of the same sex while HIV Punishment for death. It caused dozens of Ugandans to be evacuated from the houses and was fired from jobs.
“Cases of human rights violations have not really slowed, and now it’s really about,” said Richard Lucimbo, the main director of the Uganda Union.
“We do not even have the ability or even the tools we need to respond to some of these issues,” he said.
Some organizations distribute medications for children, which require more skill than adult treatment. Child medicines are designed to their age, weight, and their previous exposure to anti -viral drugs, and children must be carefully monitored to resist medicines.
In children who have acquired HIV at birth, the infection can quickly advance to the disease, with death early eight to 12 weeks-shorter than stopping for 90 days on external aid.
On Tuesday night, the Trump administration has placed all the United States Agency for International Development Agency on vacation and summoned those who were deployed abroad to return to the United States within 30 days.
Elisha Den-Georgio, President of the World Health Council, a membership organization for health groups, said.
“Who do you ask questions?” She said. “How do you move to the next step?”
Without the United States Agency for International Development to address assignment requests, organizations are afraid that they will not see money any time soon. Even large global health organizations are struggling to stay standing on his feet; Some have already cut off programs and employees.
Ms. Dan Georgio said, even if the money returns quickly, it may not be easy to restart programs and return to something that resembles normal life.
“It costs a lot to restart something, so I don’t think we really know if this is possible,” she said.
For forget and Stephanie Nolein The reports contributed.
