US Freezes Spending on Free AIDS Drugs Plan in Africa

The US government has suspended any further spending on free AIDS treatment in several African countries, raising fears that gains made in the fight against AIDS over the past six years could be reversed.
The Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR) plan, launched in 2003 by former US President George W. Bush, aimed at providing free treatment to patients in urgent need of AIDS drugs.

President Bush’s personal programs to fight AIDS and malaria and to promote education made him highly popular in Africa. He is acknowledged for giving more aid to Africa that any other US president and PEPFAR was one of his most important projects.

President Barack Obama’s new administration has frozen further spending on PEPPFAR, instead demanding greater emphasis on the prevention of new infections. This new decision means patients already enrolled in a PEPFAR programme will continue receiving free drugs, but clinics will have to turn away new patients. [PE]