The Independent Uganda: You get the Truth we Pay the Price
Washington, the United States | THE INDEPENDENT | UNAIDS has urged President Donald Trump to continue funding HIV. This comes a day after the United States officially withdrew from the World Health Organisation.
“Under President Trump’s leadership, the United States of America has the opportunity to accelerate the global HIV response and end AIDS by 2030,” said Winnie Byanyima, Executive Director of the Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS).
The statement shows that during President Trump’s first administration, he demonstrated strong leadership in the fight against AIDS by launching an initiative to end the HIV epidemic in the United States but also continued supporting initiatives such as President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR), the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis, and Malaria (Global Fund), and the Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS) which extend HIV related aid to many countries especially in Africa where the HIV burden is still very high.
Reports show that for more than two decades, the United States government has led in the global HIV response, saving more than 26 million lives and leading to the provision of innovations in HIV treatment and prevention.
Byanyima says the world is on the brink of ending AIDS thanks to advances in developing long-acting medicines which both prevent and treat HIV and that the UN body is looking forward to strengthening collaboration with the US to achieve the goal of completely ending AIDS.
“These new medicines give us a real shot at ending AIDS with the United States of America at the forefront. UNAIDS is poised and ready to work alongside the new Administration to save millions of lives by swiftly bringing these new medicines to scale”.
However, in their statement announcing withdrawal from WHO, the White House noted that they would identify credible and transparent international partners to assume activities previously undertaken by WHO.
Meanwhile, this move has raised concern by different experts especially in the area of HIV considering that the United States has been funding most of the HIV-related work that the WHO has been financing.
Generally, the US-funded eighteen per cent of the WHO’s latest budget.
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