HIV/AIDS FIGHT BLOW: TRUMP FREEZES NGOS FUNDING

MBABANE – Inyandzaleyo! This distress, synonymous with wailing and calling for assistance during danger has been issued by some of the 27 per cent of the adult population (215 000 people), as their health is under threat, which may be affected by Donald Trump’s executive order. The 47th President of the United States of America (USA) ordered a pause on foreign assistance from his republic. On Monday, local beneficiaries of the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) communicated with their personnel that they had to suspend all programmes for 90 days while the funder during this period reviews and ensures alignment with US interests.This happened at a time when Eswatini, which has a population of over 215 000 people enrolled in anti-retroviral treatment (ART), received about E831.15 million (USD 44.42) on HIV/AIDS assistance.

The aid dedicated to HIV/AIDS is a larger share of the E935.55 million (US$50.05 million) support from the USAID which was allocated to Eswatini in 2024. The funds from these agencies are crucial for purchasing antiretroviral drugs (ARVs), condoms, pre-exposure prophylaxis and for enhancing systems for collecting and analysing data on epidemiology, including interactions between diseases such as HIV/AIDS, diabetes and hypertension. The funding dedicated to addressing HIV/AIDS is said to have since been suspended as a number of the entities relying on the financial aid received communication to suspend operations on Monday.

Doomsday

Subsequent to the suspension of operations by entities heavily reliant on funding from USAID, Njabu Ngcamphalala, an activist for HIV/AIDS, said: “The communication that some of the clinics assisting us with treatment (ART) signals doomsday for us. As much as most medication has been out of stock at different intervals, we’ve never had challenges with ARVs.” Ngcamphalala said the biggest threat was that most people only check their HIV status when they get sick and in these instances, it is usually too late. With this scenario, she said: “Many people get to test when their CD4 count is very low and that results in them being required to visit medical facilities on a daily basis. Now our fear is, what if the suspension surpasses the 90 days?”

Ngcamphalala said it was high time that government invested more in health as the Executive Order by the Trump Administration signalled that at some point, the assistance would cease. She said government would have to step up and mobilise resources. Her sentiments were in line with one of the personnel among the non-governmental organisations (NGOs) which have been affected by the Executive Order.

Affected

The employee of one of the NGOs confirmed that they had been informed to suspend their operations. “We are affected and we were ordered to park cars and suspend everything funded under USAID. As we speak, nothing is happening. Our biggest fear is his assertion that some people were people living a lavish lifestyle and expecting help, citing poverty,” the employee said. The employee said they were uncertain if the funding will be restored after the three months or it would eventually be terminated. “This means government needs to be ready to step up as ARVs will be a challenge if they are not ready. We may fail to retain the 95:95:95 status,” the NGO worker said.  

According to the USAID Eswatini website, the majority of USAID’s work is related to the President’s Emergency Plan for HIV/AIDS Relief (PEPFAR) programme. It is stated that other programmes managed out of USAID’s southern Africa regional office in Pretoria include a democracy and governance activity focusing on judicial independence and human rights and an economic growth activity that reduces obstacles to foreign investment to expand the textile and garment industry. The threat to the funding of various health programmes by USAID is not limited to Eswatini as it is spread across the world, including South Africa.

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