The Uusidas said that at least a situation report on the impact of the cuts had been received from 55 different countries until the beginning of this week.
This includes 42 projects supported by the US President’s emergency plan for the relief of AIDS (PEPFAR) and 13 which receive support in the United States.
Two days after President Trump’s decree at the end of January, a 90 -day break at any foreign assistance, the Secretary of State said an emergency exemption to resume “glazed” humanitarian assistance, including HIV treatment.
The Uusidas reported a little more than a week later that there had been a generalized “confusion” on the way in which the renunciation was implemented on the ground.
The 16 reports received from the Offices of the Uusids countries around the world during the week of February 17 to 21 show that these derogations have led to the resumption of certain clinical services, such as the treatment of HIV and the prevention of vertical transmission, in many countries which depend strongly on American funding.
A future mother is tested for HIV in the Analanjirofo region of Madagascar.
Many ineligible projects
However, we do not know how long will last in the middle Multiple reports according to which key American government systems and staff responsible for the payment of implementation partners are offline or work on considerably reduced capacitysaid the United Nations Agency.
Furthermore, Critical strata of national AIDS responses are not eligible for these derogationsIncluding many HIV prevention services and community services for key populations and young women, according to the United Nations agency.
At the same time, data collection and analysis services have been disrupted in many countries, according to the reports received last week, which note that the overall quantity and quality of HIV prevention, testing and processing services were eroded.
In Côte d’Ivoire, a woman living with HIV has three pills that she takes daily as part of antiretroviral therapy.
Waiting times increase
Staff working in health establishments are faced with increased workloads and patients are experiencing increased waiting times to receive rescue services, UNUIDA said.
Other concerns persist, health systems hampered in the fight against gender -related priorities.
“US government’s statements to the United Nations System System organizations suggest that the United States was funded on gender-based states and transgender populations may not resume,” said UNAID report.
Fresh data analysis
The situation report covers a more granular analysis of the high dependence of the response to global aid with regard to foreign aid in the United States, extracted from the sets of data managed by UNUIDA.
For example, more than half of HIV drugs bought for the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), Haiti, Mozambique, Tanzania and Zambia are bought by the United States.
Before freezing, the American government provided two thirds of international funding for HIV prevention in low and intermediate income countries, according to estimates by the Global HIV Prevention Coalition.
The report also named the 20 countries that count the most about Washington’s funding: DRC, Haiti, Mozambique, Tanzania, Zambia, Uganda, Nigeria, Rwanda, Angola, Kenya, Ukraine, Burkina Faso, Burundi, El Salvador, Zimbabwe, Benin, Nepal, Ivory Coast, Eswiale and Benin.
Stopping services
Civil society and the interventions led by the community are at the heart of the end of aid and the maintenance of gains in the future, according to the United Nations.
People living with HIV and key populations at a higher risk of infection play a crucial role in maintaining the local services necessary to stay healthy, UNAIDS said.
However, many critical services stop. Here are some examples:
- Mozambique: Community workers and test advisers supported by PEPFAR funding are not paid. Consequently, HIV tests are not available in most regions of the country, the registration of new patients is pending and efforts to support people living with HIV to join their treatment have been compromised
- Tanzania: Young people working as educators, community health workers or profane advisers financed by PEPFAR were issued temporary dismissal
- Rwanda: HIV prevention services at Community level and based on facilities targeting high risk populations by HIV, including adolescent girls and young women, homosexuals and sex workers were not covered by US government derogations
- South Africa: The installations funded by the United States which support gay men, as engage in the health of men, remain closed
- Ghana: All civil society organizations financed by PEPFAR have interrupted services to people living with HIV and key populations
Learn more about UNAIDS here.
On the ground in Côte d’Ivoire
Here is an emblematic snapshot in the way in which the freezing of the United Nations has already affected this West African nation of 27 million, where Washington supported more than half of the total response to help more than 400,000 adults and children living with AIDS.
A mother, holding her two-year-old child in the southwest of Côte d’Ivoire, discovered that she was HIV positive during her pregnancy. (deposit)
- The labor order has sparked a complete closure of services funded by the PEPFAR program, which covers 516 health establishments in 70% of country health districts and 85% of people living with HIV on treatment (around 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 medicines and transport of earth diagnostic samples to stop
- The services financed by the United States partially resumed on February 12 after receiving derogations, but the majority of HIV prevention services financed by the United States for high risk of infection, remain closed
- Other national health programs and systems are affected by freezing, including malaria control programs and tuberculosis and other health and children’s health service alongside the drug and diagnostic supply chain system
