Speaking at the handover of a clinic from Medicine Sans Frontiers to the Ministry of Health and Child Welfare and the people of Epworth, (MSF) Director Paul Foreman said that his organisation was here to stay.
MSF had been accused of abandoning its projects – as many other donors have recently.
“This is a message on behalf of all people receiving treatment in Zimbabwe. This is a strong message to governments and partnerships that fund HIV. Treatment is key. Treatment saves lives. Treatment enables people to live positively where before they would have died miserably,” said Foreman.
Organisations such as Extended Support Programme have indicated that they are not going to renew their funding to several projects worth millions of dollars, raising fears among the populace that the cash-strapped government will not be able to fill the void – leading to the death of many HIV/AIDS sufferers.
An estimated 600 000 people in the country require ART, but the government is only able to give drugs to 350 000.
Donors have in the past stepped in to assist – but with a shift in focus from international traditional partners and also last year’s refusal by the Global Fund to continue funding, the country has repeatedly appealed for assistance.
“There have been worrying rumours that international donors are losing their focus on HIV treatment and that they want to give to more ‘sustainable’ activities. For MSF, saving lives is wholly sustainable,” said Foreman.
At least a million children in the country have been orphaned by the disease. Withdrawal of funding is likely to have ripple effects on their lives.
“I am appealing to (Donors) to look at the bigger picture, and to keep funding treatment, so that all people infected with HIV have the opportunity to live positively. There should be no borders to a positive life,” said Foreman.
MSF, an independent organisation made up of committed doctors, has poured $25 million into projects in Zimbabwe and will continue.
“In order to correct the record, so that this misunderstanding does not re-occur, let me say it clearly: MSF does not abandon its patients. Handover is a success story, not a failure…handover is a necessary and planned element of our overall programme approach,” he said.
Post published in: News