“We will see a … real increase in this disease – [we] I will see him come back and We see people who died as we saw them in the 90s and the 2000s“Said Winnie Byanyima, Executive Director of UNAIDS, indicating a” increase ten times “compared to the 600,000 deaths related to AIDS recorded worldwide in 2023.
“We also expect 8.7 million new additional infections. At the last count, there were 1.3 million new infections worldwide (in) 2023 ”.
Speaking in Geneva, Ms. Byanyima noted that the freezing of the funding announced by the White House on January 20 should end next month, after a 90 -day review.
“”We have not heard of other governments that commit to filling the gap“She told journalists.
Already, reception centers where patients with HIV can collect the antiretroviral drugs they need do not reopen, “for fear that this is not coherent with new directives,” she maintained.
“This sudden withdrawal of American financing led (to) to close many clinics, licensed of thousands of health workers, they are nurses, doctors, laboratory technicians, workers from the pharmacy … that’s a lot.”
Concentrate on Africa
Focusing on Africa – where the east and southern continent share 53% of the HIV global burden – Ms. Byanyima warned that Closing “Suddenly, centers without appointment for girls and young women will be disastrousBecause more than 60% of new infections – among young people – new infections on the continent are among girls and young women ”.
Talk to PK Press Club Earlier this month, the head of the Office of Uusida in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), Susan Kasedde, said that there were still major questions about the extent and scope of the cuts that were to be made to the initiative programs of the American PEPFAR, which began in 2003 to prevent and contain infections in HIV – the urgent plan of the presidency which allowed 26 million lives.
There are currently about 520,000 people living with HIV in the DRC, including 300,000 women and 50,000 children. The epidemic continues to grow, because the number of new infections is almost double the number of deaths related to the disease.
Pepfar’s expected contribution for the 2025 financial year was to be $ 105 million, and aims to provide treatment half of the population living with HIV in the DRC – some 209,000 people.
“This means that we currently have 440,000 people living with HIV who are in treatment.Hanks in this treatment, they are alive“Said Ms. Kasedde.
“And then the treatment cannot work without operational capacity, Treatment cannot be provided if there is no functional supply chain“, She stressed, stressing that the response to HIV in the DRC implies largely interdependent programs that strengthen each other.
World Impact of Cups
Several other United Nations agencies that strongly depend on American financing have also warned that the reduction of support – in addition to chronic entry into humanitarian work on a global scale – already has a serious impact on the communities they serve.
On Friday, the United Nations refugee agency, UNHCR, said thousands of people found themselves without rescue help in the eastern Democratic Republic torn by the Congo War.
The United Nations International Organization for Migration (OIM) also announced that funding for funding has serious repercussions for vulnerable migrant communities, exacerbating humanitarian crises and undergoing essential support systems for displaced populations.
With the IOM, the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) warned last Friday that the tightening of liquidity has endangered rescue work, including progress in reducing infant mortality, which has dropped by 60% since 1990.
“It is reasonable for the United States to want to reduce its funding – over time. But the sudden withdrawal of rescue support has a devastating impact to the other in countries, especially Africa, but even in Asia and Latin America, “said Byany of Unida.
“We ask for a review and urgent restoration of services – vital services.”
Presidential appeal
And In a direct call to President Donald TrumpThe head of the Uusids noted that, like President George W Bush had introduced the revolutionary initiative of the Pepfar, the new holder of the White House could also be part of the “prevention revolution”, involving injectable injections of HIV which are only necessary twice a year to ensure protection.
“”The agreement is that an American company is able to produce and fire generics in the regions to produce millions and deploy this injection to those who really need it“, She insisted.
According to UNAIDS, around 40 million people worldwide live with HIV, on the basis of 2023 data. On this number, some 1.3 million people have become newly infected with HIV in the same year and 630,000 people died of AIDS -related diseases.
