US aid freeze may cause millions more AIDS deaths: UN

President Donald Trump’s decision to suspend US overseas funding could result in millions more deaths from AIDS, the head of the UN’s program for the illness warned Sunday.The US is the world’s largest provider of official development assistance, with most funds directed through the United States Agency for International Development.Trump froze the bulk of US foreign assistance for three months upon returning to office in January, leaving global humanitarians scrambling to deal with the fallout.”It’s dramatic in many countries,” UNAIDS executive director Winnie Byanyima told AFP.”I need to sound the alarm so that it’s very clear that this is a big part (of AIDS relief funding). If it goes away, people are going to die.”The US move included a 90-day suspension of all work by the President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR).That program supports more than 20 million HIV patients and 270,000 health workers, according to an analysis from the Foundation for AIDS Research (amfAR).”We could see additional deaths increasing by tenfold” to 6.3 million in five years, Byanyima said, citing figures estimated by UNAIDS.”Or we could see new infections increase up to 8.7 million” in the same period, she said.The United States has said that “life-saving treatments” would be exempt from the freeze — although front-line workers in Africa say facilities have already closed.Speaking on the sidelines of the African Union summit in the Ethiopian capital Addis Ababa, Byanyima said she had discussed the issue with leaders, urging them to transition from foreign funding towards using domestic revenue.