LONDON: The UNAIDS agency’s mind warned that millions of people may perish and more resistant strains of the condition might develop, warning that the number of new HIV infections could increase by more than six times by 2029 if American aid of the biggest AIDS program is cut. HIV infections have been declining in recent years, according to UNAIDS executive director Winnie Byanyima, with just 1.3 million new cases recorded in 2023, a 60 % decline since the virus ‘ peak in 1995.
However, Byanyima said authorities estimate that by 2029, there could be 8.7 million previously infected with HIV, 6.3 million AIDS-related murders, and an extra 3.4 million children made children as a result of President Donald Trump‘s statement that the US would freeze all international aid for 90 days.
” We will see a boom in this disease”, Byanyima said, speaking from Uganda. ” This may cost existence if the British government doesn’t change its mind and keep its leadership”, she said, adding that it was not her position to reject any government’s plan.
Byanyima pleaded with the Trump presidency to refrain from immediately cutting off money, which, according to her, has had the impact of “panic, concern, and confusion” in many of the African nations hardest affected by AIDS.
In one Kenyan state, she said 550 HIV staff were soon laid off, while hundreds of others in Ethiopia were terminated, leaving wellness leaders able to observe the illness.
She noted that the loss of US funding to HIV programs in some places was severe, with additional revenue, mostly from the US, accounting for about 90 per cent of their programs. Practically$ 400 million goes to places like Uganda, Mozambique and Tanzania, she said.
” We can work with ( the Americans ) on how to decrease their contribution if they wish to decrease it”, she said. After the decades, the long delay it took for poor countries to obtain the lifesaving antiretrovirals much available in wealthy countries, according to Byanyima, the American withdrawal from international HIV efforts is the second biggest issue the field has previously experienced.
Additionally, Byanyima pointed out that the decline in American support for HIV was occurring at a crucial moment with the introduction of what she called the “magical prevention tool” lenacapavir, a twice-yearly picture that was proven to provide complete protection against HIV in women and nearly as effective as it did for men.
According to Byanyima, the widespread use of that picture, in addition to other HIV-related initiatives, may contribute to the disease’s elimination as a public health issue in the next five times.
She also noted that lenacapavir, sold as Sunlenca, was developed by the British business Gilead.
According to Byanyima, foreign aid “helped an American business to develop, come up with something that will give them millions and millions while also preventing new infection in the rest of the world.” The ice in British funding, she said, didn’t make economic sense.
She urged the US government to review this and acknowledge that it is mutually beneficial, noting that international aid only accounts for 1 % of the US budget overall. Why would you need to disrupt that one percent of the world?
Byanyima stated that no other nations or donors have so far stepped up to help the country that will be cut off by the demise of American help, but that she intends to travel to various Western capitals to meet with world leaders.
She claimed that because of the removal of saving tools, “people are going to die.” ” I have not yet heard of any European nation committing to move in,” but I am aware that because of their concern for human rights and humanity, they are trying to discover where they can go.
