トランプ氏援助凍結、エイズで数百万人死亡の恐れ 国連機関

【アディスアベバ（エチオピア）ＡＦＰ＝時事】国連合同エイズ計画（ＵＮＡＩＤＳ）のウィニー・バイアンイマ事務局長は１６日、ドナルド・トランプ米大統領が対外援助資金の拠出を凍結すると表明したことを受け、新たに数百万人が後天性免疫不全症候群（エイズ）で死亡する恐れがあると警告した。（写真は国連合同エイズ計画〈ＵＮＡＩＤＳ〉のウィニー・バイアンイマ事務局長。エチオピア・アディスアベバで）
　バイアンイマ氏は、エチオピアの首都アディスアベバで開催されたアフリカ連合（ＡＵ）首脳会合に出席した際、ＡＦＰの取材に応じた。
　同氏は、援助凍結が「多くの国に強い衝撃をもたらした」と述べ、「米国の資金提供がエイズ救済資金の大部分を占めていることをはっきりと示す必要がある。凍結されれば、多くの人々が命を失う」として警鐘を鳴らす必要性に言及した。
　米国は世界最大の政府開発援助（ＯＤＡ）拠出国であり、その多くは米国際開発庁（ＵＳＡＩＤ）を通じて提供されている。しかし、トランプ氏は就任直後、対外援助の大部分を３か月間凍結するよう指示し、その対象には米大統領エイズ救済緊急計画（ＰＥＰＦＡＲ）も含まれていた。ただし、その後、ＰＥＰＦＡＲは凍結の対象外となった。
　米エイズ研究財団（ａｍｆＡＲ）によると、ＰＥＰＦＡＲはＨＩＶ感染者２０００万人以上と医療従事者２７万人を支援している。
　バイアンイマ氏はＵＮＡＩＤＳの推計を引用し、援助が再開されなければ、エイズ関連の死者数が５年間で１０倍の６３０万人に増加する可能性があると指摘。また、「同じ期間に新規感染者が８７０万人に達する恐れもある」と述べた。【翻訳編集ＡＦＰＢＢＮｅｗｓ】
〔ＡＦＰ＝時事〕（2025/02/17-18:47）

President Donald Trump's decision to suspend US overseas funding could result in millions more deaths from AIDS, the head of the UN's programme for the illness warned Sunday.
The United States is the world's largest provider of official development assistance, with most funds directed through the United States Agency for International Development (USAID).
Trump ordered the bulk of US foreign assistance to be frozen for three months on returning to office in January, leaving global humanitarians scrambling to deal with the fallout.
It's dramatic in many countries, UNAIDS executive director Winnie Byanyima told AFP.
I need to sound the alarm so that it's very clear that this is a big part (of AIDS relief funding). If it goes away, people are going to die.
The US move included a 90-day suspension of all work by the President's Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR), although his administration later issued waivers for medication under the programme.
- 'Tenfold' death increase -
That programme supports more than 20 million HIV patients and 270,000 health workers, according to an analysis from the Foundation for AIDS Research (amfAR).
We could see additional deaths increasing by tenfold to 6.3 million in five years, Byanyima said, citing UNAIDS estimates.
Or we could see new infections increase up to 8.7 million in the same period, she said.
The United States has said that life-saving treatments would be exempt from the freeze -- although front-line workers in Africa say facilities have already closed.
Speaking on the sidelines of the African Union summit in the Ethiopian capital Addis Ababa, Byanyima said she had discussed the issue with leaders, urging them to transition from foreign funding towards using domestic revenue.
But she noted many African nations were saddled with huge debts -- some at more than 50 percent of their entire revenue collections -- which crippled their ability to even begin to plug the potential shortfall.
Part of the answer is in pushing very hard for an immediate and comprehensive debt restructuring, she said.
For many of them, debt is crowding out what could be spent on health and education.
Founded in 1961, USAID has an annual budget of more than $40 billion, used to support development, health and humanitarian programmes around the world, especially in poor countries.