Conflict
31/10 • UNRWA
UNRWA’s presence in Gaza safeguards hospitals, clinics, and UN premises that are explicitly protected under international law.
27/02 • PEPFAR
The U.S. humanitarian funding freeze includes the President's Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR). This is devastating for people affected by HIV.
Anglican Missions
Feb 27, 2025
PEPFAR.
The United States' foreign assistance funding freeze includes the U.S. President's Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR). This is devastating for those living with and affected by HIV.
This edition of Pray the News is from Revd Canon Rachel Carnegie, former Executive Director of the Anglican Alliance.
This decision to freeze funding is having a critical impact on people living with and affected by HIV, as well as on the organisations supporting them and on national and global responses to HIV.
While the U.S. Government then issued a waiver to allow funding support for some lifesaving services, the confusion about which HIV services may and may not be continued is causing great disruption and risks to sustaining these life-saving programmes.
On 19 February 2025, UNAIDS reported: “The lack of funding has led to a significant decrease in community-led HIV prevention efforts, a reduction in treatment adherence, counselling, and social support and monitoring activities. Consequently, there are increased risks of new HIV infections, of higher mortality rates, and a deterioration in the quality of care for people living with HIV, directly impacting their capacity to access treatment and to achieve viral suppression – crucial steps towards the global target of eliminating AIDS as a public health challenge by 2030.”
The impact of these changes are being felt most acutely in the most vulnerable and marginalised communities. As healthcare workers lose their jobs and clinics are closed down, people are unable to access HIV testing and prevention services and those dependent on daily antiretrovirals may find their supplies of this vital treatment disrupted. It is a devastating prospect for vulnerable communities, with direct impact on health along with wider economic and social consequences.
PEPFAR was established in 2003 under President George W. Bush. The US Government has contributed around 73% of donor funding for HIV programmes worldwide, which has saved millions of lives and enabled millions of people to live well with HIV. This pause in funding risks reversing the progress made through decades of effort and will destroy many local organisations which are essential to rolling out HIV testing, prevention and treatment right into the heart of communities. Maintaining PEPFAR funding is crucial to sustaining the global response to HIV and advancing towards the goal of ending AIDS as a public health challenge by 2030.
PRAYER POINTS:
- We pray for the millions of people dependent on this funding for accessing HIV testing, prevention and treatment services. We pray that these services will be sustained so that lives are protected. May those delivering HIV services in local health and community organisations be encouraged and enabled to continue their work.
- May government leaders be inspired by all that PEPFAR and other HIV initiatives have achieved in saving millions of lives and tackling AIDS as a global health challenge. May they be guided by this vision to restore and sustain support so that the world can work together to achieve the goal of ending AIDS as a global health challenge by 2030.
- May we strengthen our own commitment to see justice and healing in the world to tackle health inequalities and to see that all people “can have life in all its fullness”. (John 10:10)
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