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Any country with an HIV/Aids challenge will be affected by the US's withdrawal from the WHO, Zimbabwean finance minister Mthuli Ncube warned delegates in Davos. Picture: PHILIMON BULAWAYO/REUTERS
Any country with an HIV/Aids challenge will be affected by the US's withdrawal from the WHO, Zimbabwean finance minister Mthuli Ncube warned delegates in Davos. Picture: PHILIMON BULAWAYO/REUTERS

Zimbabwe's finance minister Mthuli Ncube expressed concern on Wednesday that the US’s withdrawal from the World Health Organisation will lead to cuts in aid to Zimbabwe and other countries most affected by HIV/Aids.

President Donald Trump signed an executive order on the US withdrawal after his inauguration to a second term on Monday.

“Any country with an HIV/Aids challenge will be impacted, Ncube said. “This is a concern, a fear, we are expressing,” Ncube said in an online briefing from Davos, where was attending the World Economic Forum.

Zimbabwe receives more than $200m (R3.70bn) annually from the US President’s Emergency Plan for Aids Relief (Pepfar) and the US has given Zimbabwe more than $1.7bn since 2006 to strengthen health systems and support people living with HIV, according the US embassy in Harare.

Pepfar contributes almost $90m a year to support salaries and incentives for healthcare workers in Zimbabwe, in addition to funding HIV and viral load testing, prevention, cervical cancer screening and tuberculosis treatment.

Zimbabwe is struggling to fund its public health system, prompting the government to introduce a sugar tax on beverages last year to help raise funds for cancer treatment. Another tax on fast foods was implemented this year.

“We need to scale up our funding for health. The earmarked taxes should be directed towards health as we build our capacity to fill the gap should any funding recede,” Ncube said.

Reuters

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