UN lauds $6 billion US funding approval towards ending HIV/AIDS

© UNAIDS/Cynthia R. Matonhodze A 35-year-old HIV-positive mother holds her six-month-old baby. Facebook Twitter Print Email The UN agency leading the global effort to end HIV/AIDS worldwide welcomed legislative approval from the United States on Thursday for a $6 billion spending package to help tackle the disease, following nearly a year of sharp aid cuts. “This US investment will provide lifesaving support for millions of people in partner countries and help to ensure that the global HIV response remains efficient, data-driven and delivers results,” said Winnie Byanyima, Executive Director of UNAIDS. “I thank President [Donald] Trump and the US Congress for their continued commitment to HIV and global health.” The UN agency said the $5.88 billion spending package approved on Tuesday “reinforces the continued commitment and leadership of the United States in the global response to HIV”. For more than two decades, US investments have been the leading driver of the global HIV response, saving millions of lives and supporting countries’ efforts to end their AIDS epidemics, the UN agency said. The law advances the America First Global Health Strategy, which emphasises the achievement of UNAIDS’ 95-95-95 targets as an integral part of ending AIDS as a public health threat by 2030 and accelerates the strategic shift towards country ownership and self-reliant HIV responses. The Joint UN Programme on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS) coordinates and drives the efforts of 11 UN organizations, including the UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF), the World Food Programme (WFP) and World Health Organization (WHO), towards ending AIDS as a public health threat by 2030.  Since the establishment of UNAIDS in 1996, the US Government has been a leading partner of UNAIDS and recently renewed its membership in the UNAIDS Programme Coordinating Board through to 2028. As for the new bipartisan law, UNAIDS said the agency is committed to leverage the funding to provide data and rigorous technical and strategic support to countries and communities most affected by HIV and for the implementation of the America First Global Health Strategy, working closely with the US Government, the Global Fund, partner governments and communities. Learn more about UNAIDS work here.  Pooja Mishra’s health kept worsening until she began treatment for HIV at age 19, two years after her diagnosis. From wondering if she’d ever be able to live a normal life, today she is youth coordinator at a coalition for people with the disease in India. The global response to HIV is facing its most serious setback in decades, UNAIDS warned on Tuesday, as abrupt funding cuts and a deteriorating human rights environment disrupt prevention and treatment services across dozens of countries.