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The United States government is intended to interrupt its support for the treatment of long -standing HIV/AIDS in Nigeria and several other developing nations, since the emergency plan of the president for the rescue of the AIDS (Pepfar) must face a change in radical policy under the Trump administration.
The leaked documents obtained from the New York Times reveal that the United States are drawing up plans to gradually eliminate PEPFAR funding, effectively placing the direct supply of antiretroviral drugs and other services that have supported millions of lives throughout Africa for two decades.
The new approach will replace medical and service aid with a model that gives priority to “bilateral relations” and to public health strategies that align more closely with the US internal interests.
These include the early detection of global outbreaks that could threaten America and the opening of new markets for pharmaceutical products and technologies produced by the United States.
According to reports, the global health organizations involved in the program were commissioned to start preparing for the transition, with some countries that should lose support in a minimum of two years.
The impending retreat triggered a widespread concern between the supporters of health and the political managers in Nigeria, where Pepfar was an anchor of critical salvation in the fight against HIV.
Over the past 20 years, Pepfar has contributed to providing drug savings drugs, funds test initiatives, to train healthcare professionals and strengthen infrastructures.
“This is a potential disaster of public health,” said an expert in health policies in Abuja who spoke on condition of anonymity.
“We are talking about hundreds of thousands of Nigerians who may no longer have access to antiretroviral drugs unless the government immediately triggers local funding.”
In a related development, the Federal Executive Council (FEC) recently approved a budget of 4.8 billion ₦ for the treatment of HIV, a move that is believed to be a stop-gap response to the cuts provided for foreign aid.
However, experts warn that allocation can be seriously insufficient to meet the growing needs of patients nationally.
This drastic change of American politics comes a few days after the United States congress has gone to the exempt from pepfar from large cuts to foreign aid, a move initially celebrated by global health communities.
However, the new revelations suggest that the exemption may not translate into support for low -income countries.
Launched in 2003 by the former president George W. Bush, Pepfar has paid over $ 100 billion globally and is widely attributed for saving over 25 million lives.
In Nigeria, the program played a central role in reducing the prevalence of the country’s HIV and improving access to treatment, in particular in rural areas.
With this retreat, the Nigeria health system has to face a discouraging task of filling an important financing and infrastructure gap – a challenge that fear the interested parties could reverse decades of progress in controlling the epidemic.
The groups for health rights invited the Nigerian government and international donors to urgently convene a response summit to explore alternative financing models and avoid a looming therapeutic crisis.
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