The United States is cutting billions in foreign aid. In Nigeria, pregnant women and others now face higher risks from HIV
Story by Beloved John
Kyuntu John, a mother of three, is running out of her antiretroviral drugs needed to fight AIDS. In a matter of days, her supply will end.
But in the wake of the Trump administration’s massive cuts of billions of dollars in international assistance, she is among many Africans facing a hard time getting resupplied with needed medications.
President Donald Trump froze almost all U.S. foreign assistance as one of his first acts in office. Despite legal challenges and a promise to resume “life-saving humanitarian assistance,” programs in Nigeria remain seriously disrupted.
For John, the massive cuts in U.S. aid means she no longer gets money to help pay for her transportation to go four miles from her home in Karonmajigi, a low-income suburb, to a hospital on the outskirts of the Nigerian capital of Abuja that has been supplying her with HIV-related medications.
She had earlier feared massive foreign aid spending reductions by the Trump administration and had asked doctors during her last visit to give her an extra supply.
“That’s why I wanted them to give me two cans of drugs that could last for six months when I visited the clinic in March,” John said.