The United States (U.S.) government has halted the support for HIV treatment in Nigeria and other developing countries, following an order by President Donald Trump.
The U.S. State Department stopped the disbursement of funds from the President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR), a programme for HIV treatment in Africa and developing countries, for at least 90 days.
The action originates from President Trump’s executive order on foreign aid, which he signed on his first day in office.
The order instructed all government agencies managing foreign development assistance programmes to halt the disbursement of funds.
United States President, Donald Trump, has signed an executive order to immediately pause the country’s foreign aid to ensure they are efficient and consistent with US foreign policy under the ‘America First agenda.’
The aid is funded by or through the State Department and US Agency for International Development.
Announcing the directive on Sunday, January 26, 2025, the US Secretary of State, Marco Rubio, in a statement on the US Department of State’s website, noted, “Every dollar we spend, every programme we fund and every policy we pursue, must be justified with the answer to three simple questions: Does it make America safer? Does it make America stronger? Does it make America more prosperous?”
According to the statement, the review and realignment of foreign assistance “on behalf of hardworking taxpayers is not just the right thing to do, it is a moral imperative.”
The US aid helps to improve agriculture and food security, education, global health, economic trade and growth, research and innovation, humanitarian assistance, environment, among others, in countries that are in need.
A pause in this aid will have significant effects on Nigeria’s economy as the West African most populous nation, hitherto, remains a major beneficiary.
This may have significant impacts on the country’s large, teeming population of over 200 million people.
“With an estimated population of 214 million, of which approximately 96 million people live on less than $1.90 per day, Nigeria is home to the world’s largest population living in extreme poverty,” USAID stated.
As a result, nearly all US global health funding was halted immediately. The temporary freeze is slated to last for a period of at least three months. In the first 85 days, Rubio is expected to make “decisions whether to continue, modify, or terminate programs”, according to the memo.
Among the health programmes expected to experience a funding freeze is the President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief, also known as PEPFAR.
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The NPR reported that PEPFAR has stopped disbursing funding and is likely to suspend operations for at least three months if an exemption is not made for the programme in the coming weeks.
With an annual budget of $6.5 billion, PEPFAR delivers HIV/AIDS treatment to more than 20.6 million people. It has helped save lives and curb the spread of the virus.
The US State Department fact sheet showed that PEPFAR has saved the lives of an estimated 26 million people since its inception.
But speaking on the ban, the agency was quoted as saying, “The United States is no longer going to blindly dole out money with no return for the American people.”
However, public health experts fear the new Trump administration might terminate the entire programme.
Some others hoped that Marco Rubio’s appointment as Secretary of State could signal positive news for PEPFAR, given his past support for the initiative.
About two million Nigerians currently live with HIV with many of them benefitting from PEPFAR.
As one of the countries with the highest HIV burden globally, Nigeria relies heavily on programmes such as PEPFAR for access to life-saving medications, and healthcare infrastructure support.
Over the years, PEPFAR has contributed over $6 billion to support Nigeria’s national HIV/AIDS response.
The suspension or permanent halt to the programme is thus likely to affect the efforts to control HIV in Nigeria.
The US spent more than $60bn in foreign assistance in 2023, more than any other country overall.
