HQ Team
January 30, 2025: The UNAIDS has welcomed a move by the United States Secretary of State, Marco Rubio, to approve an “Emergency Humanitarian Waiver” to allow people to continue accessing HIV treatment funded by the US across 55 countries worldwide.
“UNAIDS welcomes this waiver from the US government which ensures that millions of people living with HIV can continue to receive life-saving HIV medication during the assessment of US foreign development assistance,” said UNAIDS Executive Director, Winnie Byanyima.
“This urgent decision recognises PEPFAR’s critical role in the AIDS response and restores hope to people living with HIV.”
The US Department of State announced last week a 90-day funding pause for all foreign assistance, including for funding and services supported by the United States President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR) – the world’s leading HIV initiative.
Executive order
The executive order announcing a “90-day pause in United States foreign development assistance for assessment of programmatic efficiencies and consistency with United States foreign policy” was one of the first major foreign policy decisions of the new administration.
More than 39 million people living with HIV, representing two-thirds of all people living with HIV receiving treatment globally, are directly supported by PEPFAR.
The waiver approves the continuation or resumption of “life-saving humanitarian assistance” which applies to core life-saving medicine and medical services, including HIV treatment, as well as to supplies necessary to deliver such assistance, according to a UNAIDS statement.
UNAIDS will continue efforts to ensure that all people living with or affected by HIV are served and that other key components of PEPFAR’s life-saving efforts, including service delivery and services for HIV prevention, care, and support for orphans and vulnerable children are continued, it stated.
Shared goal
UNAIDS is serving in its essential role to mobilize and convene partners, governments, and communities across the globe at the country level to assess and mitigate the impact of the pause on the continuity of essential HIV services.
UNAIDS has encouraged President Donald J. Trump to prioritize the U.S. Government’s leadership in the global HIV response to achieve the shared goal of ending AIDS.
UNAIDS unites the efforts of 11 UN organisations — UNHCR, UNICEF, WFP, UNDP, UNFPA, UNODC, UN Women, ILO, UNESCO, WHO and the World Bank — and works closely with global and national partners towards ending the AIDS epidemic by 2030 as part of the Sustainable Development Goals.
