NAIROBI, Kenya
Kenya may lose HIV funding if the United States Congress does not resolve the current debate by next month.
In June this year, a
group of Kenyan Members of Parliament and religious leaders wrote a letter to
the US Congress with claims that funding from the US President's Emergency Plan
for Aids Relief in the country was helping prop up abortion.
The letter titled "Pepfar
and African Values", sent to several leaders of the US House
Representatives and Senate, stated that the HIV funding allocated to Kenya was
being used to finance family planning and reproductive health principles, which
include abortion, and this goes against our fundamental values regarding life,
family, and religion.
The lawmakers cautioned
against the reauthorisation of HIV funding to Kenya until Pepfar remains true
to its original mission and respects the norms, traditions, and values of the
country.
“As you now seek to
reauthorise Pepfar funding, we want to express our concerns and suspicions
about this funding. We ask that those partner organizations with whom the US
government partners implement Pepfar programs in ways that are cognizant and
respectful of our beliefs and not cross over into promoting divisive ideas and
practices that are not consistent with those of Africa,” the letter said.
“Again, we thank the American
people for their extraordinary generosity and solidarity with us and ask that
our voices be heard and acknowledged, and our beliefs safeguarded in future
Pepfar programming,” the letter further read.
Last month, US Republicans
picked up on the issue and demanded that Pepfar funding for 2023-24 (due in
September) to Kenya be suspended until the issue is resolved.
“If Pepfar doesn’t get
reauthorised, the program can continue but it could send some pretty chilling
messages to people in the field who depend on Pepfar for life support,” said
Jennifer Kates, Director of Global Health and HIV Policy at KFF, a health policy
organisation that has tracked the provisions set to expire September 30.
The Congress debate that will
determine whether Kenya gets the money is ongoing.
The outcome will affect the
future of the programme, hence sparking confusion with many civil societies
calling on the withdrawal of the letter.
Over 50 civil societies have
written to the Speaker of National Assembly, Moses Wetang’ula to protest
the MPs’ move, which they say would jeopardise the lives of over 55 million
Kenyans who benefit from HIV programmes supported by Pepfar as well as more
than 1.6 million people living with HIV in Kenya.
The US has since threatened
not to renew the funding which contributes more than 50 per cent of total
HIV/Aids care funds in Kenya. This is happening as various stakeholders in the
HIV space are gathered in Mombasa County to take stock of what has been happening
in the country.
“Pepfar programme is now set
for renewal. We are apprehensive that the claims by our Members of Parliament
in the letter may jeopardise the reauthorisation of the programme. Our own
Members of Parliament are expressing baseless claims which could cost Kenya
funding for services such as testing, diagnosing, prevention and, majorly, the
dispensing of antiretroviral medicines,” said Allan Maleche, Executive Director
at the Kenya Legal & Ethical Issues Network on HIV and Aids.
Kenya was expecting Ksh50
billion (343.9 million) in HIV-Aids funding for the financial year 2023-24 once
the current funding period lapses on September 30.
As a result of this letter, US
Republicans now want the Biden government to suspend the funding
reauthorisation due next week, until a clause is added to impose the Mexico
City Policy (Global Gag Rule) on their Aids programmes in Africa and around the
Global South.
The Global Gag Rule was in
effect during President Donald Trump's administration and requires that any
recipient of funding from the US government not engage in providing services or
even information about abortion care, even if those services are not being
funded by the US.
President Joe Biden withdrew
this policy (the Global Gag Rule) when he took office, but Republicans now
want it back as a condition for this specific Pepfar programme.
Biden's handlers have termed
as baseless claims that the funds were being used to support abortions.
“It is disheartening to
witness the spread of misinformation regarding Pepfar's alleged involvement in
supporting abortion and allegedly disregarding family values. These claims are
not only baseless but also detrimental to the progress we have made in combating
the HIV epidemic," he added.
“It is important to note that
Pepfar's focus is on saving lives, promoting health, and upholding human
rights, with a very limited mandate restricted to HIV care and management,” he
further said.
The societies indicated that
the gains Kenya has realised two decades after PEPFAR was introduced are great.
The programme has continuously met the needs of millions of Kenyans by
providing lifesaving drugs that were previously beyond reach.
“From the current funding
landscape in Kenya, without Pepfar support, millions of lives would be at risk.
Kenya will have a major funding gap in these programs. Further, none of these
funding areas violates ‘our core beliefs concerning life, family and religion’
as alleged,” the civil societies said.
The civil societies are
calling upon Mr Wetang’ula to clarify to Kenyans the National Assembly's
position on the suspension of Pepfar funding to Kenya.
“We are united in calling upon
the US Congress to fully reauthorise Pepfar,” they wrote.
No comments:
Post a Comment