Goats and soda: NPR

Johannesburg, South Africa – decades of progress in the fight against HIV / AIDS are in danger of disentangling, warned Thursday of the United Nations agency in its annual report, citing points of funding for funding of the main donors.

The report, launched in South Africa by Uusiad, says that these cuts – in particular the sudden withdrawal of American funding – threaten to overthrow gains that have saved millions of lives in the past two decades.

“If the world does not connect this hole,” said Winnie Byanyima, Executive Director of UNAIDS, “we believe that six million additional people will be newly infected over the next four years. We may have four million deaths related to additional AIDS.”

Warning reports occur five months after the Trump administration has interrupted most of the president’s emergency plan for the relief of AIDS (PEPFAR) – the largest contributor to the global HIV / AIDS response. The decision was made with little warning.

“The sudden withdrawal of the greatest HIV donor endorses this progress,” ByANYIMA said at a press briefing in Johannesburg.

Since the start of the epidemic, the Uusidas indicates that 26.9 million lives have been saved by treatment efforts – many of them in sub -Saharan Africa, the region most affected by the virus.

The Minister of Health of South Africa, Aaron wordsoaledi, on the right, speaks like Winnie Byanyima, Executive Director of Uusids, Watches during the publication of the Uusids report at the Bertha Gxowa hospital in Geriston, South Africa,

Trust Hadebe / AP

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Trust Hadebe / AP

Benefits in South Africa and beyond

South Africa, which has the largest population of people in the world living with HIV, has made major progress. Most infected people now receive vital antiretroviral drugs.

But the benefits are already felt. When the report is launched, the Minister of South Africa, Aaron Motoledi, described the US Cups as “alarm clock” – and warned the dangers of depending on a single donor.

“This type of relationship where we depend on a single country, and when this country is in a negative type of mood, the whole world collapses-yes, it is frightening,” he said.

Scientific setbacks and a call for action

South African researchers were at the forefront of HIV world breakthroughs as well as COVVI-19 studies. But many tests are now suspended due to the lack of funds.

Dr. Helen Rees, head of the Reproductive Health Institute and HIV from Wits in Johannesburg, said the implications are global.

“Research carried out for HIV and tuberculosis in South Africa not only had an impact here, but a huge world impact,” she said.

Rees was recently honored by the World Health Organization for its “exceptional contribution to public health”, but its institute is now faced with major American financing reductions.

“No charity” – a shared fight

Trump said that aid in the United States reflects a new emphasis on the “charitable organization” in Africa. But Byanyima of Unidas says that the sudden withdrawal of American support in February left UNUSIDs with almost 50% less funding – and no time to prepare aside.

“It’s not a charity,” she said. “It solves a global problem together. As long as it arises in certain parts of the world, it will come back to hit everyone.”

For the longtime activist of HIV, Nombeko Mpongo, in Cape Town, the cuts felt deeply personal.

“I remember that for a few days I felt muffled, I felt like I was suffocated … It was as if a volcano had come and took everything away. It was like a death penalty,” she said.

But after the shock, Mpongo says that she joined.

“I made-no man, nonsense. Allow me to fight. Let me touch the communities,” she said. “We have already fought this virus. We are going to do it again, because hope is what will take us.”