Trump's HIV/AIDS Aid Cut "Blessing in Disguise" for African Innovation-Author
The policy change comes as a "blessing in disguise," as it may prompt African leaders to establish more innovation centres and research institutes to develop Indigenous medical remedies.
GABORONE, BOTSWANA — A new month has come, and Africans anticipate a better future and a better turn of events. However, the last week of January 2025 brought sad news after a triple decade of fighting HIV/AIDS that was becoming a great defeat, writes Paula Otukile, a prominent author from Botswana.
The cessation of the provision of antiretroviral (ARV) medication to some developing countries is a headache that shall take a long time to heal, according to Otukile.
In the past three decades, there was calm and a return to normalcy for those infected with HIV, as the stigma was dying a slow death because the infected were having the best therapy and medication that took care of the symptoms and helped to keep the virus in check.
The fear is that the menace of extreme deterioration of the medical supply in developing countries will cause stress to the infected.
Stress has proven to be one of the major threats to the fast recovery of the infected, Otukile warns.
Hence, the affected countries need to assure their people of alternative ways to substitute the "American void."
This is also an opportunity for countries with more natural resources to engage scientists and researchers further into manufacturing their own ARV medications to reduce dependence on the West.
The policy change comes as a "blessing in disguise," as it may prompt African leaders to establish more innovation centres and research institutes to develop Indigenous medical remedies.
However, the situation "calls for a survival of the fittest complex," as the majority of the people who can afford to buy the ARV medications are the working class, leaving the greater percentage of the poor without access.
Botswana, under the leadership of President Festus Mogae, had made significant strides in reducing HIV infections and stigma through comprehensive prevention and treatment initiatives.
As Africa grapples with the prospect of this devastating aid cut, Otukile expresses hope that the continent can tap into support from Asia and willing Western nations to mitigate the threat of the virus' resurgence.