Hundreds of HIV doctors and researchers have called on the Trump administration to reverse major aid cuts, warning that the measures are “catastrophically damaging” the global fight against HIV/AIDS.
 |
| UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres has warned that the US government's cuts in foreign aid could make the world "less healthy, less safe and less prosperous." (Source: THX/TTXVN) |
The United States has long been the world's largest donor of humanitarian aid. But since President Trump returned to the White House less than two months ago, Washington has made significant cuts to international aid.
Humanitarian organizations warn the cuts are having a devastating impact on global efforts to combat HIV, tuberculosis, malaria and other diseases that threaten the lives of millions of people.
In that context, an open letter signed by hundreds of doctors, HIV researchers and public health experts was sent to Secretary of State Marco Rubio, asking the government to change its policy.
One of the signatories is French scientist Francoise Barre-Sinoussi, who won the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine in 2008 for her discovery of the HIV virus that causes AIDS in 1983.
The letter warns that abandoning US-supported AIDS response strategies would result in an estimated 6 million deaths over the next four years. Decades of progress would be reversed and the world would face a resurgence of the global HIV/AIDS epidemic.
According to the letter, research organizations have been cut back on funding, staff, and political independence. The prestigious Johns Hopkins University in the US announced on March 13 that it would have to lay off more than 2,000 employees due to cuts to USAID programs.
Earlier this week, Secretary of State Rubio announced the cancellation of 83% of the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) programs, while transferring the remaining aid and development programs to the State Department.
The reason given is that these programs have spent tens of billions of dollars on purposes that do not serve the interests of the United States. This also means that the US President's Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR), one of the most successful public health efforts in the world, has been virtually wiped out.
The letter notes that the initiative has saved an estimated 26 million lives over the past two decades. In addition, the cuts have disrupted global medical trials, “leaving research participants in limbo.”
President Trump’s executive order dismantling USAID reverses decades of U.S. policy that sees overseas humanitarian and development assistance as a tool to promote national security by stabilizing regions and economies, strengthening alliances and building goodwill.
Many opinions say that the deep cuts in funding from the US - the world's largest donor - have left a large gap that could cause many consequences.
Source
Comment (0)