US senators exempt HIV/Aids funding from planned spending cuts
The Republicans of the US Senate said they would save the HIV / AIDS program supported by the United States of the Cups, in the midst of a greater effort to reduce public spending.
Senators said they would end a plan to reduce $ 400 million (300 million pounds sterling) from the president’s emergency program for the AIDS rescue program, leaving total cuts to $ 9 billion.
The proposal was made in an amendment to the Senate to a set of attractions – which means a bill which allows legislators to cancel the previous financing approved by the Congress. The cancellations planned also include funds for international aid and public broadcasting.
If the Pepfar amendment is approved, the bill will return to the House of Representatives for another vote before a deadline on Friday.
Several senators of the two parties had expressed their concern about Pepfar cuts, which was launched under President George W Bush and was credited with having saved tens of millions of lives around the world, especially in Africa.
The Senate controlled by the Republicans can only afford a few defectors, assuming that all Democrats vote in opposition. John Thune, the head of the majority of the Republican Senate, said that there had been “a lot of interest” to maintain funding for the intact PEPFAR.
Senator Susan Collins, a Maine Republican, told journalists after a white house lunch on Tuesday that she was “very happy” that the cuts were deleted.
Before the amendment, Collins had been expressed against the bill. She didn’t say if the changes were enough to get her support.
The director of the Management and Budget Office (OMB), Russell Vought, told journalists that the White House was on the Senate amendment, which means that in its current form, President Donald Trump would be willing to sign him.
In his second presidency, Trump turbo-charged an effort to reduce public spending. Most of the cuts in the termination bill are aimed at recovering money that was previously intended for the main humanitarian assistance body of the US government, USAID, which recently announced its official closure under Trump.
Trump’s movements have led to drastic reductions in HIV / AIDS clinics in South Africa and other countries, precipitating a shortage of medicine and vital care.
The return tour was greeted by Professor Helen Rees specializing in HIV, preventable diseases and sexual health at the University of Witwatersrand in Johannesburg.
“This is very good news,” she told the BBC.
“It obviously does not replace all of the Pepfar provided, but this nevertheless indicates a softening of views in the United States and the importance for members of the Senate of the Pepfar program in terms of saved lives.”
She added that the sudden withdrawal of funding was “a huge threat to the lives of many people, especially in low -income countries and in particular in Africa”.
Other cuts in the Termination Bill are aimed at financing the public broadcasters NPR and PBS.
Additional Ed Habershon report in Johannesburg
