Health
UNAIDS Calls for Continuation of Essential HIV Services While US Global Funding is Paused
UNAIDS Calls for Continuation of Essential HIV Services While US Global Funding is Paused
By: Michael Mike
The Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS) has called for a continuation of all essential HIV services while the United States pauses its funding for foreign aid.
The UNAIDS had on 29 January welcome the news that United States Secretary of State, Marco Rubio, had approved an “Emergency Humanitarian Waiver,” allowing people to continue accessing lifesaving HIV treatment funded by the U.S. in 55 countries worldwide.
More than 20 million people – two-thirds of all people living with HIV accessing HIV treatment globally – are directly supported by the United States President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR).
The statement at the weekend by UNAIDS, said: “While continuity of HIV treatment is essential, services must continue to be monitored, and oversight provided for quality. Other critical HIV services for people, especially marginalized people including children, women, and key populations, must continue. Last year, PEPFAR provided over 83.8 million people with critical HIV testing services; reached 2.3 million adolescent girls and young women with HIV prevention services; 6.6 million orphans, vulnerable children, and their caregivers received HIV care and support; and 2.5 million people were newly enrolled on pre-exposure prophylaxis to prevent HIV infection.
“Since PEPFAR was created, the United States has been steadfast in its leadership in the fight against HIV. The U.S. has saved millions of lives through its programmes, particularly in the countries most affected by HIV. PEPFAR has had remarkable results in stopping new infections and expanding access to HIV treatment – and this must continue.
“Globally, there are 1.3 million people that are newly infected with HIV every year, 3,500 every day. Young women and girls in Africa are at alarming high risk of HIV, where 3,100 young women and girls aged 15 to 24 years become infected with HIV every week and at least half of all people from key populations are not being reached with prevention services.
“Pregnant women in high HIV prevalent areas must be tested for HIV to determine whether they are living with HIV so they can protect their baby by taking antiretroviral therapy prior to birth. As a result, babies will be born HIV-free.
The statement lamented that many organisations providing services for people living with HIV that are funded, or partly funded, by PEPFAR have reported they will shut their doors due to the funding pause with lack of clarity and great uncertainty about the future, stating that UNAIDS is evaluating the impact and will provide routine and real-time updates to share the latest global and country information, data, guidance, and references.
Executive Director at National Forum of People Living with HIV Network Uganda (NAFOPHANU), Flavia Kyomukama, said: “PEPFAR gave us hope and now the executive order is shattering the very hope it offered for all people living with HIV and our families. As communities we are in shock with the continued closure of clinics. We resolutely demand that all our governments come in haste to fill the gap in human resources needed at the moment to ensure sustainability of HIV service delivery.”
Zimbabwe`s umbrella network of people living with HIV (ZNNP+) stated that the implementation of stop work orders has led to significant fears, including reduced access to essential services, loss of community trust and long-term health outcomes.
The statement said as the waiver is effective for a review period of all U.S. foreign development assistance, future coverage of HIV services – including for treatment – remains unclear and the lives of the millions of people supported by PEPFAR are in jeopardy and could be at stake.
Anele Yawa, General Secretary for the Treatment Action Campaign is worried, noting that: “The PEPFAR-fund freeze will take South Africa and the world back in terms of the gains we have made in our response to HIV,” he said. “We are asking ourselves how are we going to cope in the next three months as people are going to be left behind in terms of prevention, treatment and care.”
The statement added that at a moment when the world can finally get the upper hand on one of the world’s deadliest pandemics, aided by new long-acting HIV prevention and treatment medicines coming to market this year, UNAIDS urges the U.S. to continue its unparalleled leadership and accelerate, not diminish, efforts to end AIDS.
Ut further said UNAIDS looks forward to partnering with the United States, other donors and countries most affected by HIV to ensure a robust and sustainable response to HIV and to achieve our collective goal of ending AIDS as a public health threat by 2030.
UNAIDS Calls for Continuation of Essential HIV Services While US Global Funding is Paused
NSCDC Takes Medical Outreach to Community in Nasarawa
By: Michael Mike
The Nigeria Security and Civil. Defence Corps have continued to strengthen collaborations with one of the best HMOs in Nigeria, the United Healthcare International Ltd., this is in a bid to improve the well being of the serving officers and some host communities and also improve on grassroot security techniques and effective information gathering to forestall criminality.
Speaking at the opening ceremony of a medical outreach organised by the NSCDC Commandant General, Dr Ahmed Audi, said the partnership with the United Healthcare International has positively impacted the Corps hence in order to give back to the communities and further foster and improve on the existing synergy between NSCDC and host communities, the Medical Health Service Department of the NSCDC organized the medical outreach programme to promote effective collaborations.
Delivering a goodwill message while representing the CG at the opening ceremony, ACG Ilelaboye Oyejide reiterated the commitment of the Corps to enhancing the health and well being of not only officers and men of the Corps but also the host
communities.
“In carrying out our statutory mandates, it requires the supports of the host communities for positive results and this is why the NSCDC is concerned about the state of health and wellness of the people.
“As an agency with the roles and responsibility of Disaster mitigation we belief that the free medical outreach organized for the people will go a long way to further cement the existing working relationship of the Corps and the entire community”.
The NSCDC Boss hinted that the Medical outreach would be carried out in various communities as time unfolds he noted that the Corps medical officers alongside the United Healthcare HMOs would be at Laminga Local Government Area of Nasarawa State for the first phase in the year.
NSCDC Takes Medical Outreach to Community in Nasarawa
Korean Film Festival Returns to Nigeria After COVID-19 Break
By: Michael Mike
The Korean Embassy in Nigeria has commenced the Korean Film Festival in Nigeria after it went on break during the CIVID-19 pandemic.
The latest edition is the 12th Edition of the festival and was hosted at the Silverbird Cinema, in Abuja between 19th September to 21st September 2024 with several movies screened.
Speaking at the opening ceremony, the Korean ambassador to Nigeria, Kim Pankyu, expressed delight with the return of the festival after it was suspended due to the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020.
He said: “I have come to deeply feel that South Korea and Nigeria share a strong cultural affinity, especially in their love for music and dance.
“Due to this cultural affinity, various elements, such as fashion and cuisine, along with music, are resonating in Nigeria.
“Particularly, there has been a significant surge in the spread of dramas and films.”
He added that: “Along with the global hit ‘Squid Game’ in 2021, the most-watched drama series on Netflix Nigeria in 2022 was ‘Alchemy of souls’.
“Thus, I have come to realise the importance of introducing Korean films to Nigeria, one of the world’s top 3 film-producing countries.”
Also speaking at the event, the Director-General of the National Council for Arts and Culture, Mr Obi Asika, said millions of Nigerians had fallen in love with K-pop [Korean music] and K-drama [Korean drama].
He said Nigeria would continue to learn from the Koreans to improve its entertainment industry.
Korean Film Festival Returns to Nigeria After COVID-19 Break
New UNAIDS Report that Debt Crisis Has Left Health Chronically Underfunded in Africa
By: Michael Mike
Growing public debt is choking sub-Saharan African countries, leaving them with little fiscal room to finance health and critical HIV services, a new report by the Joint United Nations Programme on HIV and AIDS (UNAIDS).
The report said domestic revenues, debt relief and development aid: Transformative pathways for ending AIDS by 2030 Eastern and Southern Africa/ Western and Central Africa, shows that the debt crisis is putting in jeopardy progress made towards ending AIDS.
It added that sub-Saharan Africa accounts for the largest number of people living with HIV, with more than 25.9 million people of the 39.9 million living with HIV globally. The region’s success in having reduced new HIV infections by 56% since 2010 will not be sustained if fiscal space is constrained.
The report, released ahead of the 79th session of the United Nations General Assembly in New York, showed that the combination of growing public debt payments and spending cuts set out in International Monetary Fund agreements in the next three to five years will, if unaddressed, leave countries dangerously under resourced to fund their HIV responses.
The UNAIDS Executive Director Winnie Byanyima said: “When countries cannot effectively look after the health care needs of their people because of debt payments, global health security is put at risk,” adding that: “Public debt needs to be urgently reduced and domestic resource mobilization strengthened to enable the fiscal space to fully fund the global HIV response and end AIDS.”
The report said debt servicing now exceeds 50% of government revenues in Angola, Kenya, Malawi, Rwanda, Uganda, and Zambia, adding that even after debt relief measures, Zambia will still be paying two-thirds of its budget on debt servicing between 2024 and 2026.
It said there has been a noted decline in HIV response spending since 2017 in Western and Central Africa, from 0.3% of GDP in 2017 to just 0.12% in 2022.
It said Western and Central Africa will need to mobilize US$ 4.18 billion to fully fund the HIV response in 2024. This will climb to US$ 7.9 billion by 2030 unless efforts are scaled up today to stop new HIV infections.
While US$ 20.8 billion was available for the HIV response in 2022 in low and middle-income countries through both domestic and international sources, this funding was not enough to sufficiently finance the HIV response. Western and Central Africa for example had a funding shortfall of 32% in 2022.
In 2024 alone, Eastern and Southern Africa will need to mobilize almost US$ 12 billion to fully fund the HIV response. This amount will climb to around US$ 17 billion by 2030 unless new HIV infections are reduced.
It said to enable increased domestic resource mobilization for countries to respond effectively to their pandemics, sub-Saharan African countries will need to strengthen their tax systems, including closing tax exemptions which currently cost countries an average of 2.6% of GDP in lost revenue across the region. Donors need also to scale up financial assistance for health and the HIV response between now and 2030, while creditors should offer debt relief to heavily indebted countries to ease the burden.
Byanyima said: “World leaders cannot let a resource crunch derail global progress to end AIDS as a public health threat by 2030.”
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