With thanks to Global Health Now. Read online: https://us14.campaign-archive.com/?u=eb20503b111da8623142751ea&id=3e7630...
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A ‘Death Sentence’ for AIDS Programs—and Patients
Organizations working with HIV and AIDS across Africa are laying off staff and shuttering services this week—a sea change that could translate to “a death sentence” for hundreds of thousands of people over the next decade, reports The Guardian.
Desperate attempts, dire end: There had been some hope that global HIV/AIDS efforts would be spared USAID cuts as part of waivers offered to “life-saving” projects.
• But last week the State Department terminated 90% of foreign aid contracts issued by USAID—a death knell for many programs.
Quantifying a catastrophe: In South Africa alone, eliminating PEPFAR is projected to lead to 601,000 HIV-related deaths over 10 years, finds a sobering study conducted before the cuts, per a STAT commentary.
• At a press conference last week, clinicians and researchers in South Africa said programs were “being pushed off a cliff,” reports Science.
• “This will be a bloodbath. Millions will suffer as a result of these actions, and global health—and the very notion of solidarity—will be unrecognizable,” said Jirair Ratevosian, former chief of staff at PEPFAR.
Other human costs include hundreds of thousands of deaths from malaria, malnutrition, and other diseases, per a new memo drawn up by departing USAID officials, per The New York Times
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HIFA profile: Neil Pakenham-Walsh is coordinator of HIFA (Healthcare Information For All), a global health community that brings all stakeholders together around the shared goal of universal access to reliable healthcare information. HIFA has 20,000 members in 180 countries, interacting in four languages and representing all parts of the global evidence ecosystem. HIFA is administered by Global Healthcare Information Network, a UK-based nonprofit in official relations with the World Health Organization. Email: neil@hifa.org