By Staff Reporter
THE United States Ambassador Harry Thomas Jr says says his country will maintain, and even increase, HIV funding levels to Zimbabwe despite a change in administration.
There were fears that the new American President Donald Trump would pull the plug on Zimbabwe, following announcement that his government was working on reducing international aid to various countries.
Addressing journalists during a tour of the OK- PEPFAR First Street Stage during the just ended Harare International Festival of the Arts (HIFA), Ambassador Thomas said international aid has not been affected by change in administration.
“We are very heartened that our Congress just passed the budget within the last few days and our President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR) funding is remaining constant. In fact it will likely grow to almost $150m next year.
“This means we are able to continue saving lives through PEPFAR as well as feed about 2.4 million people a day in Zimbabwe through other assistance programs.
“International aid has not been affected. Congress did not cut international aid,” he said.
PEPFAR has provided nearly US$800 million to Zimbabwe for HIV interventions since 2006. Over the past two years, PEPFAR’s allocation of resources have been focused on achieving the greatest impact to reach epidemic control in a short space of time by focusing new and renewed efforts in geographic areas with the highest burden of disease.
According to PEPFAR Zimbabwe Coordinator Mark Troger, his organisation reached out to more than 1.9 million individual Zimbabweans with HIV interventions in 2016.
“These areas are home to at least 80 percent of Zimbabweans living with HIV, and receive a comprehensive package of HIV services tailored by age, sex and risk for their populations.
“In 2016, PEPFAR reached over 1.9 million individuals with HIV testing and counseling services and expects to reach over 2.5 million individuals in 2017 through revised strategies such as index testing (contact tracing), innovative interventions such as HIV self-testing to reach older men and young adults, and a short-term surge in human resources to increase provider-initiated testing and counseling in facilities in 2017,” he said.
HIV/AIDS response is mainly funded by the Global Fund in Zimbabwe and the US government remains a leading provider of bilateral HIV assistance.
The US was the first, and remains the largest contributor to the Global Fund by contributing over $7 billion dollars to date.
Meanwhile, the US Ambassador has said music remains the best way of reaching out to young people to educate them about HIV/AIDS.
“We think music, education, fun saves lives. Despite tremendous success in reducing HIV incidence in Zimbabwe from 2.63 percent to 0.48 percent since 2000, we still need to educate people – especially the young.
“And the way to reach the young is through music. You are not just preaching to them, you are helping them to have a good time and see that, like the young people who I just met who were born with HIV, what vibrant lives they live.” said the US Ambassador.
With support from the US Embassy, several organizations working on HIV and related health services showcased their work along First Street as well as provided HIV-related services to members of the public.
Musical and other entertainment groups, including the visiting U.S. acapella group- the Street Corner Symphony- provided entertainment.
