The USAID Shutdown Puts Millions of African Lives at Risk

Last year alone, the United States contributed $ 3.7 billion for humanitarian aid to the country of Africa south of Sakhara. At least 73 percent of this were allocated for healthcare programs, including HIV treatment and prevention. For those who live with HIV, most of this financing was received as part of the president’s emergency assistance plan to assist – or Pepfar, which purchases and supplies HIV medicines for needing countries. Since he was launched by former US President George Bush more than two decades ago, Pepfar saved millions of lives in Africa.

To Pepfar, HIV often meant a death sentence in Africa. Today, many living with the virus are able to lead a normal life thanks to the medicines that were distributed through this. Assistance programs also allowed the countries south of the Sahara to achieve vital progress in the content of the HIV epidemic by registering infection indicators, improving testing and reducing transmission from the mother-resort.

In fact, many countries of Africa, including Nigeria, are on the verge of control over the HIV epidemic and are approaching the global goals of “95-95-95”, where 95 percent of people living with HIV are diagnosed, 95 percent of the diagnosed antiretroviral therapy, and 95 The percent of those who take antiretroviral therapy achieve the suppression of the virus, where the patient does not have the HIV detected and is effectively free from the risk of transferring the virus.

Now, when the lifebuoy is, according to the visible, is going to leave, public health workers are worried that these benefits can be changed. “We will have almost the collapse of the healthcare system if all the financing is stopped after 90-day freezing, because only the Nigeria government will not be able to provide the necessary services,” says Isa.

Isah and his colleagues published a study in 2021 about the readiness of people living with HIV in Nigeria to pay for treatment from their pockets. This study showed that although many recognize the saving importance of maintaining their treatment and therefore are ready to pay, the cost of drugs is a great obstacle to them.

The monthly cost of the total version of Truvada, the drug used to treat HIV, as well as protection against infection both before and after exposure, costs about $ 60 per month. In addition, there are costs for regular laboratory tests to check the viral load, health of the immune system, as well as for diseases of the kidneys and states of the liver and heart, which can be caused by an infection. For countries with a low income in Africa, this is a big problem: at least 41 percent of the population of Africa south of Sakhara lives by less than $ 1.90 per day; The national minimum wage in Nigeria is $ 40 a month.

Showing the readiness to compensate for the financing gap, the Nigeria government voted earlier this week for 4.8 billion Naira (3.2 million dollars) to get 150,000 sets for the treatment of HIV. But although a good sign for a short -term perspective, it is far from what is required to maintain a treatment and prevention program in the field of HIV in case of long -term refusal of support from Washington.

If, after a 90-day pause, the freezing of US financing will be maintained, many people living with HIV in Africa probably will not be able to consistently pay from their pocket for drugs and laboratory tests that they need. “After someone will be completely taking medication, and a person has reached an indefinable viral load, this means that a person cannot pass the virus,” says Isa. “But if they miss their treatment and medicine, the viral load may increase again, which will lead to the threat of their families and loved ones.”