Unaids said at least one status report has been received about the impact of cuts from 55 different countries up to the start of this week.
It includes 42 projects supported by the US President’s emergency plan for AIDS plot (pepar) and 13 receiving some US support.
Two days after President Trump’s executive order at the end of January declared a 90-day break to all foreign aid, the Secretary of State issued an emergency exemption to resume “life-saving” humanitarian assistance, including HIV treatment.
UNAIDS reported just over a week later that there was widespread “confusion” over how the exception was implemented on Earth.
The 16 reports received from Unaid’s national offices around the world during the week of 17 to 21 February show that these exceptions have led to resumption of some clinical services, such as HIV treatment and vertical transmission prevention, in many countries that are highly dependent on US funding.
A mother-to-be is tested for HIV in the Analanjirofo region of Madagascar.
Many projects unjustified
However, it is unclear how long the funding will last in the middle of More reports that the most important US government systems and staff responsible for paying implementation partners are either offline or working with sharply reduced capacitysaid the UN agency.
In addition, Critical Layers of National AIDS — Svar is not eligible for these exceptionsIncluding many HIV prevention and community-led services for key populations and young girls and young women, according to the UN Agency.
At the same time, data collection and analysis services have been disturbed in several countries, according to reports received last week, noting that the total amount and quality of HIV prevention, testing and treatment services are eroded.
In the Côte d’Id Ivoire a woman who lives with HIV, she has three pills she takes daily as part of antiretroviral therapy.
Waiting times are rising
Staff working in health facilities are facing increased workloads, and patients are experiencing increased waiting times to receive life -saving services, Unaids said.
Other concerns persist, from hobbled health systems to tackle gender -related priorities.
“US government declarations for UN system organizations suggest that US-funded programs focus on gender equality and transcend populations may not be resumed,” according to Unaid’s situation Report.
Fresh data analysis
The situation report covers more granular analysis of the Global AIDS heavy dependence on American foreign aid, extracted from the data set administered by Unaidids.
For example, more than half of HIV medicine purchased for the Democratic Republic Congo (DRC), Haiti, Mozambique, Tanzania and Zambia by the United States.
Prior to Frysen, the US government delivered two-thirds of international funding for HIV prevention in low and middle-income countries, according to estimates from the Global HIV prevention coalition.
The report also appointed the 20 countries that are most dependent on funding from Washington: DRC, Haiti, Mozambique, Tanzania, Zambia, Uganda, Nigeria, Rwanda, Angola, Kenya, Ukraine, Burkina Faso, Burundi, El Salvador, Zimbabwe, Togo, Nepal, Côte D’Voire, Eswat.
Services in a standstill
Civil society and community-leading interventions are central to ending aids and to maintain the gains in the future, according to the UN Agency.
People who live with HIV and key populations with a higher risk of infection play a crucial role in maintaining local services needed to stay healthy, Unaids said.
Still, many critical services stop. Here are some examples:
- Mozambique: Community workers and test advisers supported by PepFar financing are not paid. As a result, HIV tests are not available in most parts of the country, registration of new patients are on wait, and the efforts to support people living with HIV to comply with their treatment have been compromised
- Tanzania: Young people who work as peer educators, health workers or calf advisers financed by pepar
- Rwanda: Community level and facility-based HIV prevention services aimed at high risk of HIV infection, including young girls and young women, gay men and sex workers were not covered by exceptions received from the US government
- South Africa: US-funded facilities that support gay men, such as engaging men’s health, remains closed
- Ghana: All civil society organizations funded by Pepfar have stopped services for people living with HIV and key populations
Learn more about Unaidids here.
On the ground in the Côte d’Irdoire
Here is an emblematic snapshot of how the UN financing freezing has already affected this West African nation of 27 million, with Washington supporting more than half of the overall response to helping more than 400,000 adults and children living with AIDS.
A mother who held her two-year-old in southwestern Côte d’Id Ivoire discovered that she was seropositive during her pregnancy. (file)
- Stop-Work order triggered a complete shutdown of services funded by the PepFar program covering 516 health facilities in 70 percent of the country’s health districts and 85 percent of people living with HIV on treatment (about 265,000 people)
- More than 8,600 employees were affected, including 597 clinical workers (doctors, nurses and midwives) and 3,591 community workers
- Distribution of medicine and the transport of diagnostic samples that stops to stop
- US-funded services resumed partially on February 12 after receipt of exceptions, but the majority of US-funded HIV prevention services for people at high risk of infection remain closed
- Other national health programs and systems are affected by the freezer, including malaria and tuberculosis – control programs and another that serves mother and children’s health along with the supply chain for medicine and diagnostics
