The 90-day pause in US foreign assistance has caused a major shock to the national response to AIDS in Côte d’Ivoire. While the US Government released an emergency humanitarian waiver allowing some lifesaving HIV services to move forward during the overall pause, a lack of clarity about what is allowed has led to interruptions in services, even for HIV treatment which is allowed under the waiver. 85% of PLHIV on ART in Cote d’Ivoire are directly supported by the US President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPAR) programme.
The US funding pause is creating anxiety and confusion among beneficiaries, service providers and programme managers. Partners in the AIDS response are reporting a lack of clarity about how to operationalize the waiver —restarting treatment-related activities in line with the waiver is proving much more difficult than stopping all activities.
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