US Secretary of State Marco Rubio on January 29 issued a waiver for some life-saving humanitarian assistance that was underway worldwide, following US President Donald Trump’s cancellation of aid and withdrawal from the World Health Organization (WHO). Trump also ordered the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) to end cooperation with WHO, and halted funding initiatives like the President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR).
Critics argued the Trump’s move jeopardised the lives of people who receive HIV prevention and treatment through the global programme, especially in Africa, where 25.6-million people live with HIV.
Launched by Republican US President George W Bush in 2003, PEPFAR provided life-saving antiretrovirals for more than 20 million people. It has reportedly saved 26-million lives and prevented nearly 8-million cases of mother-to-child HIV transmission since its inception. It also provided HIV testing services for nearly 84-million people in low- and middle-income countries in 2024.
A disruption in medication could lead to drug resistance, people with a detectable viral load transmitting HIV to their partners, and pregnant women passing the virus to foetuses.
But, why should Africa rely on US aid, so many decades after independence? A 2014 New York Times article admitted the US Agency for International Development (USAID) was sometimes ‘used as a front for CIA operations and operatives.’ The same applies to other US agencies, like the National Endowment for Democracy, whose co-founder and acting president, Allen Weinstein, said, ‘A lot of what we do today was done covertly 25 years ago by the CIA.’
Ultimately, as Burkina Faso’s assassinated leader and Pan-Africanist icon Thomas Sankara (1949-87), said, ‘He who feeds you, controls you.’ Africa is immensely wealthy in natural resources and people. While US programmes have provided much-needed life-saving assistance, what excuse do African leaders have for the lack of self-sufficiency in sectors as crucial as healthcare?
But we want to hear your thoughts.
Sources
https://www.state.gov/emergency-humanitarian-waiver-to-foreign-assistance-pause-2
https://apnews.com/article/trump-foreign-assistance-freeze-684ff394662986eb38e0c84d3e73350b
https://www.ebar.com/story.php?ch=news&sc=health&id=337614
Africa
https://files.aho.afro.who.int/afahobckpcontainer/production/files/iAHO-HIV_Regional_Factsheet_November2022.pdf
USAID / CIA
NED / CIA
Thomas Sankara