By Yiep Joseph
National Empowerment of Positive Women United (NEPWU) is urgently appealing for support for 1,500 HIV patients in South Sudan who have been left vulnerable following a freeze on United States of America foreign aid.
NEPWU is a national non-governmental organization and network supporting women and girls living with and affected by HIV in South Sudan.
The US State Department froze nearly all foreign assistance worldwide, effective immediately, days after President Donald Trump issued a sweeping executive order Monday to put a hold on such aid for 90 days.
Addressing the media on Monday, Mama Evelyn Letio, the Executive Director of NEPWU said the free hurts HIV patients.
“90-day suspension of U.S. foreign aid, initiated by the Trump administration, poses a significant threat to the health and well-being of People Living with HIV (PLHIV) in South Sudan,” she said.
Evelyn expressed that nearly 200,000 individuals living with HIV rely heavily on international assistance to manage and curb the epidemic.
She added that the funding freeze affects critical programs supported by the United States President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR) and USAID, which has been instrumental in providing services across the country.
PEPFAR program had provided $1 million annually, covering 75% of the organization’s budget, according to her.
She said that PEPFAR’s contributions have been pivotal in ensuring access to treatment, prevention, and care services.
“Within this short time of the Stop Work Order, 1,500 PLHIV have missed appointments, drugs, and they are interrupted in treatment (IT),” she said.
“The abrupt halt in funding jeopardizes these essential services, threatening to reverse years of progress made in the fight against the HIV epidemic,” she added.
She added that due to the freeze, the Community Outreach Workers (COWs) who were delivering ARVs, collecting viral load samples, and providing continuous adherence counselling in the community have been laid off.
“Should this freeze continue, the viral load of our clients will rise, leading to AIDS and possibly premature death, among other things,” she said.
She added that the US waiver on lifesaving aid has affected activities that aimed at providing essential support for children living with and affected by HIV, particularly in high-prevalence towns like Juba.
“As I deliberate now, most of these children living with and affected by HIV are not going to school, lacking emotional support, which may result in mental catastrophe, this is the most worrying situation because they are the future leaders,” she said.
She called on the government to bridge the gap left by the aid freeze in order to help HIV patients.
“We therefore urge our government to take immediate action in filling the gap left by the freeze on foreign aid and inject more domestic funds to strengthen the fight against the HIV epidemic,” she said.
On his part, Onen Benson, program manager, called on the government, organizations, and well-wishers to give support in order to help the HIV patients who are left suffering due to aid cuts.
he added that over eighty volunteers, each of whom was tasked with looking after sixty people living with HIV, are laid off.
He urged the well-wishers to contribute and help the organization to continue supporting the volunteers who look after the patients.