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Distribution of HIV drugs in poor countries stopped as Trump freezes foreign aid
The distribution of HIV drugs in foreign countries by the U.S. has been paused after President Donald Trump ordered a freeze on foreign aid.
The cuts by the Trump administration affect the President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief, established by former President George W. Bush. The global health program is credited to have saved more than 25 million lives around the world.
According to reporting by Reuters, the Trump administration ordered contractors and partners who work with the U.S. Agency for Internal Development (USAID) on Tuesday to stop work immediately. In a memo seen by Reuters, the cuts will affect supplies of lifesaving drugs for HIV, malaria and tuberculosis around the globe.
“This is catastrophic,” Atul Gawande, former head of global health at USAID told Reuters. “Donated drug supplies keeping 20 million people living with HIV alive. That stops today.”
The freeze by Trump will make a large impact as the U.S. accounts for 42% of all global aid, according to statistics by the United Nations.
Gawande said that interruptions in the delivery of these drugs will increase the risk of patients getting sick and transmitting the disease to others. He also told Reuters that the notices received by him and other partners would not allow them to distribute these drugs even if they had them in stock.
About 6.5 million orphans and vulnerable children with HIV in 23 countries are slated to be affected by the cuts, according to Gawande.
Trump’s cuts affect other parts of USAID
On his first day in office, Trump ordered a 90-day pause on foreign assistance for “assessment of programmatic efficiencies and consistency with United States foreign policy.”
According to Reuters, the incoming Trump administration put about 60 senior career officials at USAID on leave. United Nations figures show that in 2023, the U.S. provided $72 billion in assistance, almost half of all humanitarian aid.
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Watch current episode of Your family Lawyer as Chinye breaks down intricacies of bloodlines, DNA tests
Again, Chuma Chinye a seasoned lawyer in last Saturday’s podcast of Your family Lawyer adequately thrashed out intricacies associated with DNA tests and bloodlines in family matters.
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Protests erupted in Jos, the Plateau State capital, on Monday morning over the continued killings of indigenous residents by gunmen suspected to be Fulani militants.
The demonstrations, led by Christian leaders including the state chairman of the Christian Association of Nigeria, Rev. Polycarp Lubo, commenced on Monday morning at the Fawvwei Junction community road, causing a heavy gridlock and stranding commuters.
The latest protest comes amid a surge in violent attacks by gunmen in various communities, with over 100 people killed in Bokkos and Bassa LGAS in the past two weeks.
“We are not happy over the continuous attacks and killings by gunmen in our communities. That’s why we have come out again to protest these happenings,” said Gyang Dalyop, one of the protesters.
Another protester, Hannatu Philip, called on the government to intervene before it spirals out of control.
The protesters brandishing placards with different inscriptions were seen marching towards the Rayfield Government House.
The Presidency has said the former Labour Party, LP, presidential running mate, Yusuf Datti Baba-Ahmed is no match for President Bola Tinubu.
Tinubu’s Special Adviser on Media and Public Communication, Sunday Dare was reacting to Datti’s remark that he (Tinubu) would not run for the presidency in 2027.
The former LP running mate insisted that Tinubu’s time is up, adding that everything is there for the president and the ruling All Progressives Party, APC, to see that they lose in 2027.
Dismissing such remark, Dare likened Datti’s comment to the new year predictions of charlatan ‘prophets’ which never come through.
In a statement he signed, Dare said the likes of Peter Obi and Datti would have been president left for the latter’s theories.
According to Dare, Datti has chosen to venture into an unfamiliar terrain.
The statement reads partly: “Yusuf Datti Baba-Ahmed’s “illogical logic” was all over the place in his recent interview with a television channel.
“Listening to Yusuf Datti Baba- Ahmed spurn his postulations about the political future of Nigeria and that of the incumbent President is like listening to the new year predictions of charlatan ‘prophets’ which never come through. Yusuf Baba Ahmed and his co-traveller Peter Obi are indeed a “double whammy“ in the Nigerian political space.
“He chose to base his political calculations on President Bola Tinubu not winning a second term given his antecedents and because Nigerians will decide at the polls among other things. He conveniently avoided the substance of performance and capacity.
“Unfortunately, he chose to walk into a lane he was unfamiliar with and chose to confront a politician he is no match for.”
Similarly, the Presidency had also stressed that Tinubu will reveal his plans for a second term at the right time.
It said the APC 2027 presidential campaign billboards had no links to Tinubu and Vice President Kashim Shettima.
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