President Donald Trump’s decision to suspend the work of the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) could have dire consequences for Ghana. The gains made in fighting HIV/AIDS in particular risk being reversed.
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00:30Globally, about 20 million people depend on ARVs from the U.S. government.
00:37So they are already feeling it.
00:41Now even though our supplies come from the Global Fund, remember that the U.S. government
00:46is also the biggest contributor to the Global Fund.
00:49So should they in the future decide to withdraw their funding, it's going to impact us severely.
00:54So there's that fear, there's that trauma among our HIV population.
01:01Strategic information activities, capacity building activities, and because of that people's
01:28salaries also.
01:31The service providers who are working in these areas are going to have their remunerations
01:40suspended until further notice.
01:49Infant babies that are exposed to HIV will be greatly affected due to the issue of PEPFAR
01:59or USAID, who actually provides medication for these exposed babies.
02:12And so we're going to make adjustments in the budget.
02:16Happily, when we have elections, we don't present the budget until the new government
02:22takes over.
02:23And so we're supposed to present the budget in March, so it's possible for us to make
02:27provision to cover what the shortfall in U.S. assistance is going to be.