Ukraine and other countries may be left without HIV medicines due to USAID cuts - Reuters
Illustrative photo: Ukraine and 7 other countries may be left without HIV medicines (Getty Images)
The decision of US President Donald Trump's administration to suspend US foreign aid has led to a significant disruption in the supply of HIV medicines in many countries. They may soon run out of these drugs, Reuters reports.
According to the World Health Organization, Haiti, Kenya, Lesotho, South Sudan, Burkina Faso, Mali, Nigeria, and Ukraine may run out of HIV medicines in the coming months.
“The disruptions to HIV programs could undo 20 years of progress,” said WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus at a press conference.
According to him, this could lead to more than 10 million additional cases of HIV infection and three million HIV-related deaths.
Efforts to fight HIV, polio, malaria, and tuberculosis have been impacted by the pause in US foreign aid imposed by Trump after he took office in January.
Ghebreyesus believes that the United States has “responsibility to ensure that if it withdraws direct funding for countries, it's done in an orderly and humane way that allows them to find alternative sources of funding.”
Freezing aid through USAID
The administration of US President Donald Trump suspended funding for international aid through the USAID agency in its first days in office. Trump wants to eliminate the agency. In this way, the United States wants to check the feasibility of providing humanitarian aid and its compliance with the administration's policy.
The USAID office in Ukraine has also stopped working. NBC News reported that the United States has stopped supporting the program to restore Ukraine's energy system.
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