JOHANNESBURG - More than 15,000 health workers in the country will be affected by the Trump administration’s decision to withdraw HIV/AIDS relief. Earlier this week, US President Donald Trump announced a freeze on the President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR).

A legacy bipartisan initiative to combat HIV and AIDS in Africa is collateral damage from President Donald Trump’s directive to halt all U.S. foreign assistance, despite efforts to exempt humanitarian assistance and lifesaving medication from being caught up in the three-month funding freeze.

The President's Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief has provided life-saving treatment to tens of millions since it was established in 2003

As part of the foreign aid freeze by President Donald Trump, the U.S. distribution of HIV drugs in poor countries has been stopped.

The Trump administration has made some concessions to the halt placed on distributions of global HIV treatments via

Secretary of State Marco Rubio’s order to pause nearly all foreign aid has halted funding to the President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR), an African HIV-prevention program launched by President George W. Bush in 2003 that has saved over 25 million lives.

A new report estimates that 135,987 babies will be born with HIV during the 90-day stoppage on foreign aid spending.

“Since its bipartisan creation, PEPFAR has always been synonymous with saving lives and this waiver restores – in some part – that legacy. However, PEPFAR’s continued and uninterrupted support of all HIV treatment and prevention services must be fully restored,” IAS President Beatriz Grinsztejn said.

National Agency for the Control of AIDs (NACA) has commended the U.S. government for issuing emergency waiver to ensure that millions

In Nigeria, PEPFAR remains a major contributor to the treatment of People Living with HIV, covering approximately 90 per cent of the country's treatment needs

”A funding halt for HIV programmes can put people living with HIV at immediate increased risk of illness and death and undermine efforts to prevent transmission in communities and countries,” the statement reads.