The United States Secretary of State, Marco Rubio, has approved an “Emergency Humanitarian Waiver” to ensure continued access to US-funded HIV treatment across 55 countries, the Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS has announced.
UNAIDS stated on Wednesday that the US President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR), the world’s leading HIV initiative, directly supports over 20 million people living with HIV, accounting for two-thirds of all individuals receiving treatment globally.
UNAIDS works with global and national partners to end the AIDS epidemic by 2030 as part of the Sustainable Development Goals.
“UNAIDS welcomes this waiver from the US government, which ensures that millions of people living with HIV can continue to receive life-saving HIV medication during the assessment of US foreign development assistance.
“This urgent decision recognises PEPFAR’s critical role in the AIDS response and restores hope to people living with HIV,” said UNAIDS Executive Director, Winnie Byanyima.
The US Department of State has issued an executive order imposing an immediate 90-day moratorium on all foreign aid, including PEPFAR-funded programs and services.
The executive order, which asks for a “90-day pause in United States foreign development assistance to assess programmatic efficiencies and consistency with US foreign policy,” is one of the new administration’s first key foreign policy choices.
However, UNAIDS claimed that the waiver allowed for the continuation or resumption of “life-saving humanitarian assistance,” which includes crucial HIV treatment and medical services, as well as the materials required to provide such help.
“UNAIDS will continue working to ensure that all people living with or affected by HIV receive care and that key components of PEPFAR’s life-saving efforts—including service delivery, HIV prevention, and support for orphans and vulnerable children—are maintained.
“UNAIDS is mobilising and convening partners, governments, and communities globally to assess and mitigate the impact of the funding pause on essential HIV services.
“We urge President Donald J. Trump to prioritise US leadership in the global HIV response to achieve the shared goal of ending AIDS,” the statement added.
On Tuesday, the World Health Organisation voiced great worry about the funding freeze for HIV programs in low- and middle-income countries, saying that it could imperil life-saving treatment for nearly 30 million people globally.
At the end of 2023, an estimated 39.9 million people were living with HIV worldwide.
WHO cautioned that prolonged funding delays could “put people living with HIV at immediate risk of illness and death, undermine prevention efforts, and reverse decades of progress, potentially taking the world back to the 1980s and 1990s when millions died from HIV annually, including in the United States.”
The global health body also warned that halting funds for HIV programs could “set back scientific advances, disrupt partnerships, and weaken public health initiatives, including innovative diagnostics, affordable medicines, and community-based HIV care models.”
“We call on the United States government to approve additional exemptions to safeguard the delivery of life-saving HIV treatment and care,” WHO stated.
