Trump halts HIV funding for Nigeria, others

Abdullateef Fowewe

The United States Government has halted the support for Human Immunodeficiency Virus treatment in Nigeria and other developing countries following an order by President Donald Trump.

The action originates from Trump’s executive order on foreign aid, which he signed on his first day in office.

The US State Department stopped the disbursement of funds from the President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief, a programme for HIV treatment in Africa and developing countries, for at least 90 days.

The order also instructed all government agencies managing foreign development assistance programmes to halt the disbursement of funds.

The NPR reported that PEPFAR has stopped disbursing funding and is likely to suspend operations for at least three months if an exemption is not made for the programme in the coming weeks.

With an annual budget of $6.5 billion, PEPFAR delivers HIV/AIDS treatment to more than 20.6 million people. It has helped save lives and curb the spread of the virus.

Meanwhile, the United States Department fact sheet showed that PEPFAR has saved the lives of an estimated 26 million people since its inception. But speaking on the ban, the agency was quoted as saying, “The United States is no longer going to blindly dole out money with no return for the American people,” However, public health experts fear the new Trump administration might terminate the entire programme.

Some others hoped that Marco Rubio’s appointment as Secretary of State could signal positive news for PEPFAR, given his past support for the initiative.