LAGOS/JOHANNESBURG ¨C U.S. President Donald Trump¡¯s decision to put a halt to U.S. foreign aid sparked intense and swift panic last month, but a partial U-turn has done little to calm nerves, fueling a debate about the viability of the global aid system.
Hours after his inauguration on Jan. 20, Trump ordered a 90-day pause in foreign aid, including the supply of drugs for HIV treatment under the President¡¯s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR), the world¡¯s leading HIV initiative.
As charities and development agencies reeled at the speed and scale of the policy change, people like Harrison Ibeh, a 32-year-old gay Nigerian who is HIV positive, wondered how they would cope without life-saving antiretroviral (ARV) therapies.
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