Countries, global health groups band together as US aid gaps threaten lives
The Trump administration said this week it has cut more than 80% of programmes, which health groups say threatens efforts to tackle deadly diseases across the globe. Some programmes have survived or been reinstated, but funding remains scarce, and the future unclear.
'We are trying to say to countries: 'Ok, you have more commodities, your neighbouring country does not have them, could you potentially give them some until we figure out a way of going ahead?',' said Michael Adekunle Charles, head of the RBM Partnership to End Malaria.
The World Health Organization and other groups have also said they are working with countries to fill gaps in HIV testing and treatment, in a similar way to during the COVID pandemic when countries shared resources to prevent shortages.
Some governments, such as Kenya and Malawi, have moved staff and are discussing emergency financing, but the funds are limited and staff are not necessarily trained in the disease areas they have been deployed to, experts said.
Florence Riako Anam, co-executive director of the Global Network of People Living with HIV, said many countries supported by donor funding had already been working on roadmaps to take more control of their HIV work domestically.
But that does not solve the immediate issues.
'The problem we are facing today is facing all neighbouring countries ... so I think that is a challenge,' said Nelson Otwoma, director of the National Empowerment Network of People Living with HIV/AIDS in Kenya, referring to the potential to share medical tools.
Countries should also prioritise the most lifesaving interventions, including treatment and bednets for prevention, said Joy Phumaphi, executive secretary of the African Leaders Malaria Alliance.
'We must all work together to fill the immediate gaps while planning for longer term financing solutions,' she said.
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Glasgow Times
an hour ago
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Parents who advised daughter against chemotherapy warned over inquest behaviour
Paloma Shemirani, 23, collapsed on July 19 last year and was taken to Royal Sussex County Hospital where she died five days later. She had earlier declined treatment for non-Hodgkin lymphoma. Her mother, Kay 'Kate' Shemirani, a prominent online conspiracy theorist and her father, Dr Faramarz Shemirani, who is 'sympathetic' to his ex-wife's views, believe medical professionals are to blame for their daughter's death. Coroner Catherine Wood, presiding over the inquest at Kent and Medway Coroner's Court in Maidstone, left the court due to the behaviour of Miss Shemirani's parents on Tuesday afternoon. Paloma Shemirani with her A-level results at Roedean School in 2019 (Gareth Fuller/PA) The inquest, which was originally scheduled to conclude on Wednesday, had been extended as the evidence and questioning of witnesses had taken longer than anticipated. On Tuesday, Mrs Shemirani, who was struck off as a nurse in 2021 after spreading harmful misinformation about Covid-19, was cross-examined by Dr Shemirani. Questioning broke down when Dr Shemirani, who is understood to have a PhD in computational fluid dynamics, tried to ask his ex-wife's opinion of medical evidence which she would then try to answer, despite warnings from the coroner. 'Mrs Shemirani, I've told you not to speak, I'll find you in contempt if you keep on speaking now,' the coroner said. 'Confine (yourself) to asking questions of this witness as a witness of fact,' she told Dr Shemirani. As Dr Shemirani argued back through his video-link, the coroner said: 'Dr Shemirani, challenge me by judicial review later' before trying to move on. 'Of course I will, of course I will,' he replied. Later, Dr Shemirani once again tried to ask questions which had already been ruled irrelevant by the coroner. 'I'm going to rise for a few minutes because I'm finding it incredibly difficult to keep you on track,' said Ms Wood. Dr Shemirani continued to speak until the coroner shouted 'Dr Shemirani, listen'. 'Your behaviour has been bordering on contemptuous to the court – when I make a ruling on something you cannot come back,' she added. Mrs Shemirani also accused osteopath Nick Gosset of lying under oath earlier in the inquest. Mr Gosset treated Miss Shemirani the day she collapsed and said she had appeared to be in the 'last stages of a very difficult disease'. He told the court that when he inspected her, he could feel lumps in her right shoulder going all the way up into her neck, which he identified as lymphoid mass and that he 'had never seen anything like it' in 43 years of practice. Mr Gosset told the court: 'It was obvious to me that I was not the right person to be helping her, normally you see a patient like that, you would refer her (to a GP). 'Any referral was refused – when I suggested that the proper avenue of approach was through a normal, medical channel she dismissed it. On Tuesday, Paloma's mother said 'his statement under oath is completely opposed with the truth' and has argued her daughter was healthy the day she collapsed. The inquest continues on Wednesday.
North Wales Chronicle
an hour ago
- North Wales Chronicle
Parents who advised daughter against chemotherapy warned over inquest behaviour
Paloma Shemirani, 23, collapsed on July 19 last year and was taken to Royal Sussex County Hospital where she died five days later. She had earlier declined treatment for non-Hodgkin lymphoma. Her mother, Kay 'Kate' Shemirani, a prominent online conspiracy theorist and her father, Dr Faramarz Shemirani, who is 'sympathetic' to his ex-wife's views, believe medical professionals are to blame for their daughter's death. Coroner Catherine Wood, presiding over the inquest at Kent and Medway Coroner's Court in Maidstone, left the court due to the behaviour of Miss Shemirani's parents on Tuesday afternoon. The inquest, which was originally scheduled to conclude on Wednesday, had been extended as the evidence and questioning of witnesses had taken longer than anticipated. On Tuesday, Mrs Shemirani, who was struck off as a nurse in 2021 after spreading harmful misinformation about Covid-19, was cross-examined by Dr Shemirani. Questioning broke down when Dr Shemirani, who is understood to have a PhD in computational fluid dynamics, tried to ask his ex-wife's opinion of medical evidence which she would then try to answer, despite warnings from the coroner. 'Mrs Shemirani, I've told you not to speak, I'll find you in contempt if you keep on speaking now,' the coroner said. 'Confine (yourself) to asking questions of this witness as a witness of fact,' she told Dr Shemirani. As Dr Shemirani argued back through his video-link, the coroner said: 'Dr Shemirani, challenge me by judicial review later' before trying to move on. 'Of course I will, of course I will,' he replied. Later, Dr Shemirani once again tried to ask questions which had already been ruled irrelevant by the coroner. 'I'm going to rise for a few minutes because I'm finding it incredibly difficult to keep you on track,' said Ms Wood. Dr Shemirani continued to speak until the coroner shouted 'Dr Shemirani, listen'. 'Your behaviour has been bordering on contemptuous to the court – when I make a ruling on something you cannot come back,' she added. Mrs Shemirani also accused osteopath Nick Gosset of lying under oath earlier in the inquest. Mr Gosset treated Miss Shemirani the day she collapsed and said she had appeared to be in the 'last stages of a very difficult disease'. He told the court that when he inspected her, he could feel lumps in her right shoulder going all the way up into her neck, which he identified as lymphoid mass and that he 'had never seen anything like it' in 43 years of practice. Mr Gosset told the court: 'It was obvious to me that I was not the right person to be helping her, normally you see a patient like that, you would refer her (to a GP). 'Any referral was refused – when I suggested that the proper avenue of approach was through a normal, medical channel she dismissed it. On Tuesday, Paloma's mother said 'his statement under oath is completely opposed with the truth' and has argued her daughter was healthy the day she collapsed. The inquest continues on Wednesday.
