Donald Trump’s decision to pull the plug on foreign aid has created panic – and nowhere more than in Sub-Saharan Africa. Here, in this resource-rich continent which paradoxically is also the world’s poorest region, US-funded health and humanitarian services have served as a lifeline for over half a century.
For millions suffering from infectious diseases and famine or fleeing violent conflicts and drought, US aid has provided much-needed respite – accounting for a quarter of all aid to Africa.1 Its humanitarian aid to sub-Saharan Africa totaled $3.7 billion in the last year alone – 73 per cent of which was allocated to health programmes, including HIV treatment and prevention. Through the President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR) and the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, the US has helped reduce new global HIV infections by 37 per cent. HIV-related deaths fell by 45 per cent, with 13.6 million lives saved between 2000 and 2018.2 Particularly in Sub-Saharan Africa, which bears a disproportionate burden of the HIV epidemic, PEPFAR has had a profound transformative effect by providing access to cost-effective anti-retroviral medication, developing improved healthcare infrastructures alongside prevention programmes and counselling.
