Pictured: Human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) test. UNAIDS welcomes US decision to exclude HIV measures from aid freeze Health
Amid the freeze on US aid programs, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio has approved emergency measures that will allow people in 55 countries to continue receiving HIV treatment with US funding. More than 20 million people living with HIV are receiving treatment under the US President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief, the world’s leading HIV initiative.
“UNAIDS welcomes this waiver from the US Government. This step ensures that millions of people living with HIV can continue to receive life-saving HIV medications while the US evaluates its foreign development assistance,” said Winnie Byanyima, Executive Director of the Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS).
Recall that the US State Department recently announced an immediate 90-day pause in all foreign aid. The order on a “90-day pause in US development assistance to evaluate the effectiveness of programs and their consistency with US foreign policy” was one of the first major foreign policy decisions of the new administration.
This measure, however, will not affect efforts to provide people living with HIV with essential life-saving medications and health care. UNAIDS, for its part, will continue to fight HIV, including within the framework of the US initiative.
UNAIDS calls on President Donald Trump to prioritize US government leadership in the global response to HIV to achieve the shared goal of ending AIDS.