Charities reeling from USAid freeze warn of ‘life or death’ effects
Charities reeling from USAid freeze warn of ‘life or death’ effects
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Abrupt order has done ‘serious damage’, say experts, with supply chains halted, HIV clinics struggling to source drugs and refugee camps facing loss of vital services. Clinics in Uganda are scrambling to find new sources for vital HIV drugs, aid workers in Bangladesh fear refugee camp infrastructure will crumble, and mobile health units may have to stop treating civilians near the frontline in Ukraine.
![[A man wearing a face mask with his back to the camera at a shelf stocked with boxes of vaccines]](https://i.guim.co.uk/img/media/fef80b2645e66f6faa161c1b8a7c5f90231af1d4/0_429_3608_2166/master/3608.jpg?width=445&dpr=1&s=none&crop=none)
Services worldwide have been thrown into disarray by President Donald Trump’s executive order, signed on Monday 20 January and published on Friday halting US foreign aid funding flows for 90 days for review. A few exemptions include military aid to Israel and emergency humanitarian food assistance, but charities said the sudden announcement – which included instructions for any US-funded work already in progress to stop immediately – had put lives at risk.
![[A black woman carrying a sack of food with USAid written on it]](https://i.guim.co.uk/img/media/c1cea6438f64ad30f1ed3ddd2be9a99180725aa5/0_0_6720_4480/master/6720.jpg?width=445&dpr=1&s=none&crop=none)
The US president’s Emergency Plan for Aids Relief (Pepfar) is included in the order. It provides antiretrovirals to 20 million people with HIV globally, and funds test kits and preventive medicine supplies for millions more. Already, clinics worldwide are reporting that supplies have been halted.
![[A child receives a vaccine at a school desk, while a row of schoolchildren line up behind her]](https://i.guim.co.uk/img/media/f4af54170c6ca2036f5e0a38c24243e6aa8463b7/0_0_4290_3264/master/4290.jpg?width=445&dpr=1&s=none&crop=none)
“This is a matter of life or death,” said Beatriz Grinsztejn, president of the International Aids Society, adding that stopping Pepfar would be disastrous. “If that happens, people are going to die and HIV will resurge.”. Brian Aliganyira runs a health clinic for the LGBT+ community in Kampala, Uganda. He said the presidential order had brought supplies to a standstill. Ark Wellness Hub relies on Pepfar for testing kits, medication to prevent and treat HIV and running costs.
