Feature Story

Impact of US funding cuts on HIV programmes in El Salvador

28 Marzo 2025

Immediate Risks or Disruptions

  1. Stockouts:
    • Pre-Exposure Prophylaxis (PrEP): The HIV Program Unit of the Ministry of Health has only a four-month supply of PrEP remaining. However, The Global Fund authorized them to use remaining funds to purchase PrEP.
    • The USAID PASMO project, which implemented PrEP through private clinics, has not returned; they have only been authorized to work on offering self-testing.
  2. Service Capacity:
    • HIV Testing & Treatment: antiretroviral therapy provision continues, but facilities are operating at reduced capacity.
    • HIV Prevention Services: Reduced capacity is affecting key populations such as gay men, sex workers, people who use drugs, and transgender people.
    • At the moment, the greatest impact is on prevention, as only 11 of the 30 promoters who supported doctors in initiating PrEP for key population users in the VICITS clinics have been rehired. Therefore, their workload has been overloaded by assigning them three VICITS clinics per promoter.
    • Comprehensive HIV Care Clinics: Projects supporting 20 out of 24 clinics were reinstated, allowing the return of 90% staff, including doctors, laboratory staff, pharmacies, data entry clerks, and community liaisons. The care and treatment areas are recovering despite the impact of the three-week pause that led to more than 1,200 antiretroviral therapy dropouts.
    • Human rights, key and vulnerable populations: All programs on stigma and discrimination have stopped affecting key populations, adolescent girls and young women, and people living with HIV.
  3. Civil Society Organizations (CLOs):
    • CLOs are experiencing significant challenges, including service reductions or suspensions, staff losses, and funding cuts, which limit their ability to advocate for key issues. Additionally, their capacity to collect and report data has decreased due to a lack of funding for monitoring activities. As a result, many CLOs face the risk of closure or severe reductions in services.

Politically Relevant Updates

  1. Government and UN Coordination:
    • UNAIDS conducted an early assessment and has been continuously updating it, presenting the impact to the UN country team.
    • A country-level task team is in place, with representation from REDSAL (a network of people living with HIV) and Colectivo Alejandría (representing key populations).
  2. Funding and Support:
    • The USAID Global Health Supply Chain Program Procurement and Supply Management (PSM) resumed operations, providing support for supply chain projections and management.
    • The Data for Implementation (DATA.FI), funded by USAID in collaboration with Palladium and the Department of Epidemiology at Johns Hopkins returned to assist with data analysis in the case registration system.