The decisions of the new US government are having a negative impact on the health of the global population. The Swiss health network Medicus Mundi, of which Mission 21 is also a member, has highlighted the impending consequences in an initial analysis and is defending itself against these effects.
The Swiss health network Medicus Mundi warns of the consequences of the US decisions: for example, the fight against HIV and malaria is at risk. It is possible that communicable diseases will increase and the risks for the population will rise - including in Switzerland. The network writes this in a dossier and calls for an increase in funding for international cooperation.
The Medicus Mundi network brings together more than 50 Swiss organizations that are active in international health cooperation. Mission 21 is also a member, publishes the analysis in its own channels and supports the demands.
Viele Menschen im „Globalen Süden“ sind nun vom Tode bedroht
Jochen Kirsch, Director of Mission 21, emphasizes that the cut in funding for health has dramatic consequences for people in the so-called Global South: "This affects, for example, important measures to combat malaria and tuberculosis as well as HIV and AIDS. If, for example, free access to life-saving HIV medication is no longer guaranteed in a number of sub-Saharan African countries, I assume that hundreds of thousands of people will fall ill and die from AIDS across the entire continent."
Experts in the affected countries also harbor such fears. For example, Dr. George Assam, a doctor in Douala (Cameroon) and long-standing board member of the National Medical Council, writes to us about the current situation in his country: "The current withdrawal of USAID and the abrupt end of US support for global health programs is having devastating consequences for Cameroon: Vital vaccines and medicines are lacking everywhere. As a result, the program to combat malaria in pregnant women and small children has also completely collapsed. Countless babies and small children will now die of malaria again. Similarly, the lack of drugs against tuberculosis and HIV will claim hundreds of thousands of lives."
In addition to the consequences for the individuals affected, this would also have serious social consequences, says Jochen Kirsch: "Entire societies would be destabilized by the renewed outbreak of the pandemic."
Switzerland's commitment to international health promotion
In Switzerland, too, funding for international cooperation has already been cut. Last year, the Federal Council diverted money from the budget for international cooperation to Ukraine and also cut Switzerland's contributions to the UN HIV program ("UNAIDS"). Further cuts are under discussion. The cuts to global health are now all the more drastic as a result of US President Donald Trump's decision to withdraw from the World Health Organization (WHO) and stop payments to the US Agency for International Development (USAID) for three months.
The Medicus Mundi network is now calling on the Swiss authorities to increase funding for international cooperation in a targeted manner. Switzerland should continue to support UNAIDS and generally do more to improve global health and promote a strong World Health Organization. These are demands that Mission 21 supports, as Jochen Kirsch explains: "We must not abandon the societies in our partner countries that have suddenly been hit so hard by disease and death. Wealthy countries like Switzerland, which still has a strong humanitarian tradition, should make a stronger commitment to supporting particularly vulnerable people."
â–º Download the policy brief from Medicus Mundi Switzerland as pdf
