Trump funds freeze terrifying – palliative care providers
Treatment. A patient undergoes dialysis at a hospital in Uganda. Kidney-related diseases also need palliative care. PHOTO/FILE
What you need to know:
- Uganda is among the countries that were affected after the US Department of State, and the US Agency for International Development (USAID) implemented President Donald Trump’s Executive Order on Reevaluating and Realigning United States Foreign Aid which froze all aid for the next three months pending evaluation.
A section of providers of palliative care services have decried the recent funding freeze by the United States towards health initiatives, calling it unfortunate.
In a Monday statement to journalists ahead of the February 11 World Day of the Sick, the palliative care services providers under their umbrella body, the Palliative Care Association of Uganda (PCAU) said the development is the worst news to the majority of the patients benefiting from the programmes.
“As we mark the World Day of the Sick this year, we face the unprecedented US government freeze on funding for many health initiatives. We know that many patients and their families who are dependent on Non-Governmental Organizations (NGOs) and donor agencies for their counseling, medical refills, and survival are terrified and worried now,” the statement reads in part.
It adds, “There exists confusion at the community level about how the US-funded life-saving disease prevention and treatment programmes will continue. We appeal to the government and all stakeholders to come out with assurances and provide practical responses to bridge the anticipated crises.”
Uganda is among the countries that were affected after the US Department of State, and the US Agency for International Development (USAID) implemented President Donald Trump’s Executive Order on Reevaluating and Realigning United States Foreign Aid which froze all aid for the next three months pending evaluation.
Following public outcry over this decision which had also affected more than 1.2 million people living with HIV/AIDS who were being supported under the President's Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR) programme, the US Secretary of State Mark Rubio announced a waiver for life-saving humanitarian assistance.
He defined life-saving humanitarian assistance as "core life-saving medicine, medical services, food, shelter, and subsistence assistance, supplies, and reasonable administrative costs as necessary to deliver such assistance".
“This waiver does not apply to activities that involve abortions, family planning conferences, administrative costs ... gender or DEI (diversity, equity, and inclusion) ideology programmes, transgender surgeries, or other non-life saving assistance,” he said in a January 29 letter.
In the January 30 letter which came public on Monday February 10, Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Health Dr Diana Atwine asked all staff supported by USAID and the Centre for Disease Control to halt operations until they harmonise.
“Given that your operations and emoluments were directly supported by the US government and such activities have since been suspended, you are informed to halt work for which you had been contracted, as we engage with the US government on the way forward,” she said.
PCAU executive director Mark Donald Mwesiga in the statement said that such situations call for full integration of palliative care in the public healthcare system to ensure sustainability.
“At the community level, we can all show compassion to those who suffer…PCAU extends gratitude to healthcare workers, caregivers, volunteers, and all those who dedicate their lives to ease the suffering of others,” he said.
This year’s World Day of the Sick will be held under the theme: Hope does not disappoint.
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