United States financing cuts on foreign aid are causing “great confusion”, although an exemption has been placed on HIV/AIDS programs, the United Nations HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS) program said on Friday (7).
“There is a lot of confusion, especially at the community level. The delivery of medicines in the community, transportation services, community health agents, all these services are still being affected, ”said Christine Stegling, UNAIDS Assistant Executive Director, reporters in Geneva.
US President Donald Trump suspended hundreds of millions of dollars in foreign aid donations for 90 days by taking office on January 20.
In the following days, the US State Department issued an exemption from the President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS relief (PEPFAR) – the world’s leading HIV initiative – for life -saving humanitarian assistance.
Although he greeted the exemption, Stegling emphasized that the situation remains chaotic.
“In Ethiopia, we have 5,000 public health professionals contracts funded by US care. And they were all terminated, ”said Stegling.
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US donations represent most of the UN program financing operating in 70 countries, leading global efforts to end AIDS as a threat to public health by 2030.
