HIV projects halted as US aid freeze bites

Organisations have let go of peer educators, adherence counselors, community health facilitators and mentor mothers.

by ELISHA SINGIRA

Health20 February 2025 - 13:38

In Summary

“For TB patients, for example, their samples are no longer being transported. I hope we will not experience a spike in cases of advanced HIV Disease (AHD)."

The disruption affects services financed by the US President’s Emergency Plan for Aids Relief (Pepfar) and the United States Agency for International Development (Usaid).

People living with HIV in Kenya are facing fear and uncertainty due to the disruption of US funding toward health services globally.

The disruption affects services financed by the US President’s Emergency Plan for Aids Relief (Pepfar) and the United States Agency for International Development (Usaid).

In a meeting convened by the Global Network of People living with HIV (GNP+), leaders of national PLHIV networks in various countries shared how their organisations had been affected.

The leaders said that they had been forced to let go of community workers who include peer educators, adherence counselors, community health facilitators and mentor mothers.

Meirinda Sebayang, the chairperson of Jaringan Indonesia Positif (JIP) said: “The key staff played an important role in re-engaging PLHIV who had discontinued their treatment and providing psychosocial support.

They were not only advocates for improved healthcare services but also strove to reduce stigma and discrimination in society. Furthermore, they acted as role models for other PLHIV, to achieve their quality of life. To succeed in Ending AIDS, it is imperative that the donors, government, and other stakeholders continue to be urged to take action, and that the community remains committed to this vital objective.”

Jacky Wamboi from AfroCAB, who through the project THRIVE are implementing linkages between community and health facilities to address Advanced HIV Disease (AHD), said they cannot continue their work as the community health practitioners were affected by the Stop Work order.

She said: “Apart from HIV access, which has been affected, we are now seeing people having to move to different clinics, affecting contact tracing. For TB patients, for example, their samples are no longer being transported. I hope we will not experience a spike in cases of advanced HIV Disease (AHD) detected and being referred to our facilities because from the little that I saw during field visits last year we have a lot of patients admitted in our wards with AHD.”

The leaders also expressed concern regarding the disruption of services and treatment for TB prevention and treatment. Globally, more than 161,000 people died of HIV related TB in 2023.

Florence Riako Anam, GNP+ co-executive director, said that they were committed to reach HIV control standards by stopping HIV infections and stopping Aids deaths.