Ethiopian Informer
ADDIS ABABA (EI): The Joint United Nations Program on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS) has warned over the “severe impact” of the pause in U.S. foreign assistance on Ethiopia’s national HIV response.
UNAIDS, in a statement issued late Thursday, said the pause in U.S. foreign assistance to the East African country “will affect many areas of development. However, its impact on Ethiopia’s national HIV response is particularly severe.”
It noted that Ethiopia is on track to reach the global 95-95-95 targets, with 90 percent of people living with HIV in Ethiopia being aware of their HIV status, 94 percent of people with HIV receiving antiretroviral (ARV) therapy, and 96 percent of people on ARV achieving viral suppression. It said ARV treatment is currently provided to 503,000 people across 1,400 health facilities throughout the country.
“However, with ongoing challenges to the country’s health system and socio-economic development, Ethiopia remains reliant on external donors for its HIV response,” it stated.
UNAIDS warned that the pause in U.S. assistance to community programs and drop-in centers serving women, young girls, and priority populations at higher risk of HIV infection means tens of thousands of individuals will no longer be able to access critical services such as HIV testing, ARV treatment, pre-exposure prophylaxis for HIV prevention, screenings for tuberculosis (TB), sexually transmitted infections, and support to address gender-based violence.
It further stressed that the closure of many drop-in centers and the termination of outreach workers’ and peer-educators’ contracts will effectively cut off support to vulnerable groups.
Noting that the funding freeze has caused critical delays in the supply of essential HIV services—including testing kits and other resources, UNAIDS stated that the interruption in funding is limiting the availability of crucial supplies and undermining the ability to conduct timely viral load testing, which is essential for effective patient monitoring and treatment.
It also warned that the funding pause threatens to stall efforts to build local healthcare capacity, impacting the training and support of health workers and slowing progress in Ethiopia’s fight against HIV.
Meanwhile, UNAIDS commended the Ethiopian Ministry of Health’s announcement to all regional health bureaus, assuring regional health offices that the government will step in to manage the work performed by U.S.-funded personnel to ensure program continuity.
UNAIDS said that together with the World Health Organization (WHO), it will convene a situation assessment briefing with the Ethiopian government, civil society organizations, and development partners to identify solutions to address gaps in the HIV, TB, malaria, and health and community systems responses in Ethiopia.
Last month, the U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio ordered a sweeping pause on almost all of the State Department’s existing foreign aid grants, effective immediately and valid for 90 days.
