THE recent decision by newly inaugurated United States (US) president Donald Trump to suspend foreign aid for three months has raised serious concern regarding the future of HIV-AIDS programmes in Namibia.
The affected programmes are those funded by the President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (Pepfar). For years, Pepfar has funded HIV-AIDS, tuberculosis and malaria programmes in Namibia. It has also saved millions of lives since it was launched by former president George W Bush 22 years ago.
Executive director of the Ministry of Health and Social Services Ben Nangombe told The Namibian yesterday that Pepfar funds community health workers, voluntary male circumcision, condom provision and programmes that support adolescent girls and young women, all of which ultimately target the prevention of HIV-AIDS.
“It’s a question of scale. Up to 70% of the response is funded by the government of Namibia from its own resources but each and every cent counts for the response,” Nangombe said. He added that the Namibia Population-Based HIV Impact Assessment was also supported by the US government.
“There will be some impacts if the resources are withdrawn but that does not mean that the Namibian government will not continue to implement the interventions,” Nangombe said.
While Nangombe acknowledged that the withdrawal of US resources would have an impact, he reassured the public that the Namibian government will continue implementing interventions targeting the epidemic. However, he conceded that some communities may face a lack of services that are currently available.
The health ministry has been proactive in addressing the funding challenges.
“We were already thinking about sustainability,” Nangombe explained. Since assuming his role in 2018, he has engaged in discussions regarding funding sustainability for HIV-AIDS, tuberculosis and malaria programmes, particularly in light of Namibia’s classification as an upper middle-income country.
According to him, the ministry had already started discussing funding sustainability for those programmes in 2018.
Jennifer Gatsi-Mallet, founder of the Tuyakula Group for people living with HIV in Windhoek, said the cessation of aid would be a “disaster”.
“Although Namibia is doing well in reducing the number of HIV-AIDS infections and mother to child transmissions, funding is still needed. Now we are hearing the president announced that he is going to stop funding for HIV-AIDS. That is going to be a disaster after all the achievements that Namibia has done and we know that in Africa, governments still need funding from outside,”she said.
Associate professor at Brown University School of Public Health in the US Craig Spencer said on social media yesterday that Pepfar provides HIV treatment for over 20 million people globally and now faces a funding delay of up to six months.
“Without access to treatment, HIV can rebound in less than a month. This is self-defeating stupidity,” he said.
Meanwhile, the health ministry also expressed concern over the US’ withdrawal from the World Health Organisation (WHO), highlighting the impact on global health funding.
Minister of health and social services Kalumbi Shangula says while other WHO member states would have to increase their own contributions following Trump’s action, the US president’s move was not unexpected.
“During his first term as president, he also withdrew the US from the WHO,” Shangula said.
Despite the halt on foreign aid, Shangula does not anticipate any negative impacts on Namibia’s bilateral agreements, which currently support 30% of the government’s health programmes.
Trump also ordered the withdrawal from the Paris Agreement under the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change.
The Ministry of Environment, Forestry and Tourism yesterday said this would reduce resources to fight climate change.
“The Paris goal of 1.5 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels is unlikely to be met. The US is a major polluter and achieving this goal now seems impossible,” ministry spokesperson Romeo Muyunda said.
International relations analyst Marius Kudumo told Desert FM last week the US leaving the WHO is a significant setback, given their role as the largest contributor.
Kudumo said many global challenges, including climate change and pandemics, seem to be at odds with Trumps domestic focus.
“This is dangerous, as the global challenges we face require a global approach … The US president, in his address and campaign, does not demonstrate concern for the rest of the world.”
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