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Africa HIV Deaths To Mount, As Trump Stops Funding. Heres Why

In South Africa alone, funding cuts could lead to 500,000 deaths in 10 years, experts warn. United States funding cuts to HIV/AIDS programmes in many African countries could lead to hundreds of thousands of deaths on the continent, health experts and aid organisations have warned. In South Africa alone, US funding halts could lead to 500,000 deaths in the next 10 years, an official of the Desmond Tutu HIV Center said on Thursday. The warning comes as countries begin to feel the effect of massive US aid cuts. Just after taking office on January 20, President Donald Trump issued a sweeping executive order that paused foreign aid assistance for an initial duration of 90 days. This week, Trump’s government cut 90 percent of foreign contracts funded by the US aid agency (USAID) and sacked thousands of its staff in Washington. And on Thursday came news that the Trump administration had decided to stop funding UNAIDS, the UN’s HIV/AIDS programme that serves communities around the world. In a report this week, UNAIDS said at least 55 countries around the world had reported funding cuts to HIV programmes, including several in African countries. That included halts to 55 HIV projects supported by the US President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR) or that received part US funding. African countries bear the biggest burden of the HIV epidemic, with an estimated 25 million living with HIV in sub-Saharan Africa, out of the total 38 million people living with HIV worldwide. PEPFAR, which started in 2003, is credited with saving 26 million lives, according to UNAIDS. The program’s spending totals approximately $120bn since its inception. Here’s what to know about how aid cuts to HIV/AIDS programmes are affecting African countries: On Thursday, Linda-Gail Bekker, chief operating officer of the Desmond Tutu HIV Center told reporters that funding cuts to South Africa will have a devastating impact. Bekker made the statement after many South African aid groups were notified this week by the US Department of State that their grants under USAID had been cancelled. According to the AFP news agency, the notices read that the grants no longer aligned with “US priorities” and would be terminated for the “convenience and the interest of the US government”. But Bekker said the consequences of that decision will be dire. “We will see lives lost,” the official said. “In excess of half a million unnecessary deaths will occur because of the loss of the funding, and up to a half a million new infections.” Already, the United Nations said, HIV services in many African countries have been disrupted, including prevention, testing, and treatment services. Hundreds of thousands of people who once had free access to crucial antiretroviral treatment (ART) – medication that suppresses the viral load in infected people to undetectable levels and helps them lead healthy lives – have been cut off. Shortly after the aid cut announcements, the US secretary of state issued an emergency waiver to resume “life-saving” humanitarian assistance, including HIV treatment but not prevention programmes – unless they are for pregnant or breastfeeding women, presumably, to stop transmission from mother to child. And the block on funding UNAIDS will likely compound the resource challenges faced by nonprofits trying to serve patients and vulnerable communities. Projects related to “gender ideology” or diversity, transgender surgeries or family planning are forbidden under the waivers. Organisations have been invited to submit a 30-day work plan and budgets for review and approval before they can be approved. It’s unclear if any organisation has been cleared under the new rules yet. However, officials say there’s massive confusion over how the waiver would be implemented on the ground, even with approval, as testing, prevention, and treatment projects often complement each other and would now have to be uncoupled. In addition, many of the US implementing partners involved in the running of the programmes have either stopped working or are working at a reduced capacity. According to the Global HIV Prevention Coalition, the US was responsible for two-thirds of international financing in developing countries. A major recipient is South Africa, the country with the highest HIV burden in the world at 7.5 million people. High prevalence in the country is linked to lower levels of education and awareness, especially in rural areas. Twenty percent of the world’s HIV-infected persons are in South Africa, and 20 percent of new HIV infections also occur in the country. South Africa has made progress in expanding the number of people accessing treatment for HIV, resulting in a 66 percent decrease in AIDS-related deaths since 2010. New HIV infections have also fallen by 58 percent, according to UNAIDS. PEPFAR funds made up about 17 percent of South Africa’s HIV budget ($400m), while the South African government took up the majority according to the country’s health ministry. That support helped ensure that about 5.5 million people received antiretroviral (ARV) treatment yearly, according to the National Department of Health. Similarly, more than half of HIV medicines bought for the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), Mozambique, Tanzania, and Zambia are secured through US funding, according to the UN. Of the 20 countries that are most reliant on US aid for HIV/AIDs programmes, 17 are in Africa, the UN says. They include: DRC, Mozambique, Tanzania, Zambia, Uganda, Nigeria, Rwanda, Angola, Kenya, Ukraine, Burkina Faso, Burundi, Zimbabwe, Togo, Côte d’Ivoire, Eswatini, and Benin. The other three are Haiti, El Salvador and Nepal. South Africa has sought to allay fears that the funding gap was a death sentence to HIV prevention programmes, pledging to strengthen its health system and care. Earlier this month, President Cyril Ramaphosa said his administration was working on local solutions. “We are looking at various interventions to address the immediate needs and ensure the continuity of essential services,” he said. One of those interventions was kickstarted in Soweto, one of the hardest-hit suburbs on February 25, under the Health Ministry. The “HIV Treatment Campaign” wants to persuade 1.1 million people already living with HIV, but who are not on treatment, to be enrolled in treatment programmes by December. Meanwhile, in Nigeria, the government in February approved about $3.3m to buy HIV treatment packs and fill the funding gaps over the next four months. A government committee focused on finding alternative financial support has also been launched. One major alternative to USAID is likely to be UNAIDS. The UN agency recently praised South Africa’s new intervention initiative and said it will work with the government to ensure the continuity of HIV services. “This plan protects the human rights of people living with HIV, offering them hope and an opportunity to live healthy and fulfilling lives,” the agency said in a statement, adding it was “inspiring.” But with the US not only suspending its own HIV prevention support but also stopping the funding for UNAIDS, it is unclear whether the UN agency will be able to help countries like South Africa. Meanwhile, experts are calling on other Western countries, especially the European Union, to step up and fill the gaps. “The EU and its member states collectively represent the largest global provider of ODA (official development assistance),” analyst Coline Le Piouff of the European Council on Foreign Relations wrote in a paper published on the organisation’s website. “As such, the bloc should harness the strength that comes from acting together and speaking as one voice,” Le Pious wrote. In 2023, the EU donated 95.9 billion euros ($100bn) in foreign assistance, majorly to aid Ukraine, COVID-19, and climate change efforts. In addition, private aid organisations, such as the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, may also have to fill in funding gaps, such as in research, some health experts say. “They may chip in, but this is up to them because they also have their priorities,” Anna Roca, professor of epidemiology at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine told Clinical Trials Arena, a US publication focused on clinical research. “It’s not going to be easy to suddenly increase funding for something that was not part of the foundation’s agenda. The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation is already co-funding drug development with USAID, so some research may be able to continue. It’s hard to say at the moment that if USAID is not there, how the industry is going to respond – we will have to see,” she added. Follow Al Jazeera English:...

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Worldnews

Pope Francis Through The Years: A Life In Pictures

In Pictures Born in Argentina, Francis was the only Latin American pontiff and first non-European pope in more than 1,000 years. The leader of the Roman Catholic Church, Pope Francis, has died. He was 88 years old. Born in Argentina, he was the first Latin American pope as well as the first non-European to serve for more than 1,000 years. He was known for his simple words and humble manner that immediately won over the crowds. After he assumed the papacy in 2013, Francis aimed to make the church more inclusive, opening up key roles to women and trying to address the issue of child sex abuse by Catholic clerics. Analysts, however, remain divided about the success of his efforts. The 88-year-old pontiff was recovering from double pneumonia and was under doctors’ orders to observe two months of convalescence since he left Rome’s Gemelli Hospital on March 23. Francis suffered from a number of health issues throughout his life, including having part of one of his lungs removed at the age of 21. He became increasingly fragile in recent years. Here are some pictures from his life as pope: Follow Al Jazeera English:...

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Worldnews

Is Russias Putin Playing Trump Over Ukraine Peace Plan, Or Himself?

As Washington backs away from truce talks, some observers believe Russia wants to fight on for months. Kyiv, Ukraine – The Kremlin duped the White House into accepting and promoting its view on how the Russia-Ukraine war should end, according to a Ukrainian military analyst. Russian President Vladimir Putin “imposed his narratives on [his US counterpart Donald] Trump,” Lieutenant General Ihor Romanenko, former deputy head of the General Staff of the Ukrainian Armed Forces, told Al Jazeera. “Trump repeats them, tries to implement them, frightens and pressures Ukraine that already is in a pretty precarious situation,” he said about the peace talks that seem to have reached an impasse. But some Western observers disagree. “In this case, Putin played himself,” Nikolay Mitrokhin, a researcher with Germany’s Bremen University, told Al Jazeera. “The talks failed because of both sides, but Zelenskyy scored more moral points in this competition, because he proposed a more significant version of a truce, Trump is satisfied with him in general,” Mitrokhin said. Putin suggested a three-day ceasefire between May 8 and 11 so that Russia could celebrate its victory over Nazi Germany with a military parade on Moscow’s Red Square. Putin also plans to host Chinese leader Xi Jinping and other helmsmen from former Soviet republics, Eastern Europe and Latin America. The May 9 festivities are a focal point of the Kremlin’s political calendar as Moscow claims to have “liberated” Europe from Nazism – and accuses some European leaders, as well as Zelenskyy, of “neo-Nazi” leanings. Zelenskyy retorted to Putin’s proposal by offering a monthlong cessation of hostilities. Meanwhile, Putin “showed his feathers as a totally non-constructive character capable only of tiny pittances in the negotiation process”, Mitrokhin said. “The next step would be a rapprochement between the United States and Ukraine, additional arms supplies to Ukraine, and, probably, new, stronger and more shocking sanctions against Russia a la Trump.” There is, however, room for Trump’s unpredictability if there is a “destiny-changing summit in May, when Trump and Putin will sort it all out,” he added. Before his re-election, Trump boasted he would end the Russia-Ukraine war “in 24 hours”. But more than 100 days into his presidency, even a temporary ceasefire is not on the horizon as Russian missiles and drones keep pummelling Ukrainian cities. Trump’s peace plan has never been made public, but his “final offer” leaked to the press in late April largely benefits Moscow and leaves Kyiv with no security guarantees from Washington. The document reportedly included a ban on Ukraine’s membership in NATO, Washington’s “de jure” recognition of annexed Crimea as part of Russia and a “de facto” recognition of Moscow’s occupation of large chunks of four Ukrainian regions. Russia currently occupies some 20 percent of Ukraine’s territory; Kyiv has liberated seven more percent since 2022. The “de facto” recognition of the four regions follows Putin’s largest “concession” so far – he agreed not to claim the Kyiv-controlled parts of them. Trump’s “final offer” also included a ceasefire and a freeze along the current front lines in return for the immediate lifting of all US sanctions slapped on Russia since Crimea’s 2014 annexation. Kyiv also gets back the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant, Europe’s largest, a giant nearby dam that was bled dry by a powerful explosion in 2023, and small Russian-occupied areas in Ukraine’s northeast and south. A Kyiv-based analyst called the Trump-proposed compromises “disgusting”. “A compromise between what and what? Between Russia’s desire to kill, rape, loot, seize territories, and our demands that our territories are not taken away and we are not killed? There’s no room for compromise,” Maria Kucherenko, an expert with the Come Back Alive think tank, told Al Jazeera. “We have already eaten these ceasefires and concessions to Russia with a big spoon,” she said, referring the US-mediated discussions of a ceasefire between Kyiv and Russia-backed separatists in southeastern Ukraine during Trump’s first presidency. “The thing is not what Zelenskyy says or doesn’t say. The thing is that Russia will only do exactly what it is allowed to do. And turning a blind eye to its further acts of aggression will not do,” she said. The White House threatened to walk away if Kyiv and Moscow didn’t agree to the “final offer.” To a Ukrainian serviceman recovering from surgery, the aim of Moscow’s delay tactic is crystal clear. “Moscow postponed talks until the fall and is getting ready for an active summer offence, trying to probe weak spots in our defence,” Kirill Sazonov, a political analyst-turned serviceman fighting in the Donetsk region, wrote on Telegram on Monday. “Currently, Putin doesn’t want peace and that’s why the talks make no sense. The White House can get out of them – and nothing will change at all,” he wrote. After signing the long-awaited minerals deal last week, Washington distanced itself from the talks. “It’s going to be up to them to come to an agreement and stop this brutal, brutal conflict,” Vice President J D Vance told Fox News on Thursday. The change of rhetoric means that Trump considers the minerals deal a diplomatic victory ahead of his summit with Chinese President Xi Jinping, according to a Kyiv-based analyst. Moscow expects only a “full or partial capitulation” of Ukraine, but as Kyiv keeps fighting, for Trump, “it’s irrational to play a middleman,” Igar Tyshkevych told Al Jazeera. Meanwhile, the Kremlin’s backers remain puzzled about Trump’s chameleonic mood swings. “Is the Trump temptation over? Are we recovering?” Vladimir Solovyov, a popular television host who once threatened to turn the West into “radioactive ashes”, asked rhetorically during his Sunday show. Clad in a quasi-military overcoat and speaking in an ominous voice, he uttered yet another warning to the West: “We don’t need your love, we need your fear.” “We lived to witness a merry time, when only our part of the world boasts psychological health,” he concluded. Follow Al Jazeera English:...

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NHRC Presents 2024 State Of Rights Report

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