Africa

Kenyan, Ugandan groups demand inclusive HIV programs to fill US funding gap

USAID contributed 80 percent of funding to sub-Saharan Africa programs

Published

1 year ago

July 28, 2025

(Photo by NASA)

Seven months since the Trump-Vance administration froze U.S global aid, African countries whose health programs have been seriously affected have devised new ways to address the funding challenge.

The governments’ urgent interventions, however, come with calls of inclusion from queer rights groups in Kenya and Uganda and elsewhere that have also been seriously impacted, warning their sidelining only implies a lack of seriousness to end HIV/AIDS.

“We must fund, protect, and institutionalize community leadership to survive this moment and build systems that endure,” Richard Lusimbo, founder of Uganda Key Populations Consortium, said.

Lusimbo noted community-led organizations, including LGBTQ networks, not only implement public health programs but have co-designed them. They have created referral systems, peer support structures, and delivered medical clinics in remote areas that public systems cannot reach.

“We are not there to patch holes,” said Lusimbo. “We are there to lead. Our leadership must be recognized, resourced, and embedded within national systems, and not only consulted once programs are already designed.”

The queer community’s demand for the government interventions comes amid UNAIDS’s latest warning of a serious global HIV response crisis if U.S funding is halted permanently. The agency’s report said this gap would reverse decades-long gains of saving 26.9 million lives from the virus.

“UNAIDS projections show that a permanent discontinuation of support from the United States President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR) for HIV treatment and prevention could lead to more than 4 million additional AIDS-related deaths and more than 6 million additional new HIV infections by 2029,” its report states.

The annual UNAIDS reportreleased on July 10 notes the sudden dismantlement of the U.S. Agency for International Development — which was the world’s largest contributor to HIV programs for low- and middle-income countries in sub-Saharan Africa and elsewhere — has disrupted prevention and treatment programs.

USAID contributed 80 percent of the total funding for the aforementioned efforts.

The UNAIDS report also notes half of the 9.2 million people with HIV/AIDS around the world last year who needed treatment but were not receiving it lived in Kenya, Uganda, and other sub-Saharan African countries.

It notes the largest gaps are in diagnosing men living with HIV and linking them to treatment and care, while singling out men who are gay and are members of other key populations as the most affected because of discriminatory laws, violence, and stigma.

“In the absence of a cure for HIV, millions of people will continue to need HIV treatment for many decades to come, but funding losses are destabilizing many treatment programs and the efforts to make them more equitable,” UNAIDS warns.

Key populations, including gay men whose clinics, community-led health groups, and queer rights organizations depend largely on PEPFAR and other foreign aid programs, are reeling from the U.S. funding cuts. UNAIDS data notes around 25 percent of people from vulnerable populations in sub-Saharan Africa are denied access to HIV/AIDS programs, which causes new infections.

GALCK+, a Kenyan queer rights group, noted the freezing of PEPFAR funding has impacted most LGBTQ programs. The result has been fewer HIV testing clinics, queer mental health centers and safe spaces, and hospitals no longer offering gender-affirming care.

“Our lives are on the line, and we must fight for every life. Donate, volunteer, and uplift local LGBTQ+ organizations working on healthcare access and community support,” GALCK+ said.

The queer lobby group also noted forging new partnerships with other international donors is crucial to address the new funding challenge.

Kaleidoscope Trust, a U.K.-based queer rights organization, has stepped in to support LGBTQ groups affected by the U.S. funding freeze.

Although the Global Fund has picked Kenya and Uganda as among the first sub-Saharan African countries to benefit from lenacapavir, a new long-acting injectable PrEP drug, anti-gay discrimination has prevented many people from accessing it.

“This long-acting option has the potential to revolutionize HIV prevention, especially for our community who continue to face stigma or barriers in accessing daily oral PrEP,” Lusimbo said.

Kenyan, Ugandan governments work to bridge funding gap

The PEPFAR funding cut has led to the closure of hundreds of HIV treatment clinics and disrupted the supply of antiretroviral drugs, forcing Kenya and Uganda to reconsider domestic financing through national budgets passed last month.

Kenya, which received a total of $322 million in PEPFAR funding in 2024, increased its national budget for the health sector by $85 million, from $983 million in the previous financial year to $1.07 billion in the current one, in an attempt to bridge the shortfall.

The additional funding resulted from a joint high-level meeting of top officials from national and local governments, health sector players, and relevant communities in March to agree on a sustainable HIV response plan.

The plan entails redesigning medical service delivery to integrate HIV and other diseases in reproductive, maternal, newborn, child, and adolescent health programs. It also involves more domestic funding for HIV products, vaccines, and effective health management systems.

NEPHAK, a Kenyan national network that works with people living with HIV and those at risk of the virus, has called for immediate integration of HIV care into general health care. NEPHAK has also said HIV treatment should be included in the country’s universal health coverage plan.

Uganda also convened a high-level national health financing dialogue in May in response to the U.S funding pause to explore ways of increasing its health sector spending, which has stood between $52-$57 per capita, below the World Health Organization’s recommended $86 minimum.

“Organizations in Uganda are asking for more local money for health and SRHR (sexual and reproductive health rights), better use of budgets, and more community involvement and engagement in all the processes,” stated CEHURD Uganda, a local health social justice rights group. Uganda this financial year increased its health sector’s budget to 8.1 percent from 4 percent in the last financial year, a move lauded by CEHURD as the only way towards having a robust health sector.

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Egypt

Egyptian authorities refuse to allow gay cruise to dock in country

Scarlet Lady earlier this week blocked from visiting Turkey

Published

3 weeks ago

July 9, 2026

Michael K. Lavers

Alexandria, Egypt (Photo by javarman/Bigstock)

Egyptian authorities have refused to allow a gay cruise to dock in the country.

The Scarlet Lady, a Virgin Voyages ship that Atlantis Events chartered, was to have docked in Alexandria, a port city on the Mediterranean Sea. The Washington Blade obtained a letter that Atlantis Events President Rich Campbell sent to passengers on Thursday, hours before the cruise was to have arrived.

“Early this morning, we were informed that Scarlet Lady has been denied entry into Egyptian waters and, as a result, will no longer be able to call in Alexandria today,” he wrote.

“I know how much this visit meant to so many of you,” added Campbell. “We successfully sailed a similar itinerary last year, so we were surprised by this unfortunate decision.”

Campbell noted “both the Atlantis and Virgin Voyages teams worked tirelessly to make this call in Alexandria a possibility.”

“This news came as a surprise to all of us, and we’re just as disappointed as you are,” he said.

The 10-day cruise left Athens on July 5. It is scheduled to end in Trieste, Italy, on July 15.

The ship had been scheduled to dock in Kusadasi, a Turkish resort town on the Aegean Sea, and Istanbul earlier this week. Turkish authorities refused to allow it in the country.

Former Tempe, Ariz., Mayor Neil Giuliano, who is an LGBTQ+ Victory Institute board member, is among those on the cruise.

“Just a few hours before arriving in Alexandria, Egypt — a city founded by and named for one of the ancient world’s best-known homosexuals — government authorities rescinded permission for our ship of 2,000 gay men to enter Egypt,” wrote Steve May, who is also on the ship, on Thursday in a Facebook post.

Alexander the Great founded Alexandria in 331 B.C.

“As with Turkey, we have been sent away not because of what we did, but because of who we said we are,” said May. “‘I am what I am’ is too much liberty for some to bear. So it was in the United States as well not long ago, where even I ended up as a convicted homosexual after a military trial in 2001 for saying ‘I am gay.’ This is just a reminder that for all the progress we have made, our freedom is never secure — for any of us, regardless of who or how we love. Back to Europe!”

Discrimination and persecution based on sexual orientation and gender identity is commonplace in Egypt. The Egyptian Football Association, along with the Football Federation Islamic Republic of Iran, objected to playing in the World Cup’s “Pride Match” that took place in Seattle on June 26.

Egypt

Iran, Egypt play in World Cup ‘Pride Match’

FIFA allowed Pride flags inside Seattle stadium

Published

1 month ago

June 28, 2026

Michael K. Lavers

(Screen capture via KOMO News/YouTube)

Iran and Egypt on Friday faced off during the World Cup’s “Pride Match” in Seattle.

Iran is among the handful of countries in which consensual same-sex sexual relations remain punishable by death. Discrimination and persecution based on sexual orientation and gender identity is commonplace in Egypt.

Friday’s match coincided with Pride weekend in Seattle. The Egyptian Football Association and the Football Federation Islamic Republic of Iran both objected to playing in the “Pride Match.”

Egypt and Iran tied 1-1.

FIFA, for its part, allowed Pride flags inside the stadium during the match.

“The FIFA World Cup 2026 is an inclusive event that welcomes people from all backgrounds,” a FIFA spokesperson told the Washington Blade in a statement. “Fans of all sexual orientations and gender identities are welcome at matches and events. General statements of human rights, including rainbow flags and other flags representing sexual orientation and gender identity, are permitted under the FIFA World Cup 2026™ Stadium Code of Conduct and may be displayed inside stadiums provided they are used in a manner consistent with the code.”

Human Rights Watch welcomed FIFA’s decision to allow Pride flags inside the stadium. Outright International, a global LGBTQ and intersex rights group, distributed Pride flags in Seattle on Friday, which was Pride Match Day.

“Visibility matters,” said Outright International Executive Director Maria Sjödin. “Pride is now being celebrated in more than 100 countries, including this weekend in Seattle. For many LGBTIQ people, seeing a Pride flag in public is a reminder that they are not alone, and that their rights and dignity are recognized.”

FIFA President Gianni Infantino earlier this year told Die Weltwoche, a Swiss magazine, that “there will be no ‘Pride Match’ at the (FIFA) World Cup.”

“There will be a FIFA World Cup match in Seattle, and on the same day, events organized by external organizations will be taking place in the city,” said Infantino. “But that has nothing to do with the match itself.”

Peter Tatchell, a long-time LGBTQ activist from the U.K. who is director of the Peter Tatchell Foundation, was among those who traveled to Seattle for Friday’s match. Tatchell accused FIFA of not vetting World Cup teams — specifically Iran, Egypt, Saudi Arabia, Ghana, Senegal, Qatar, Tunisia, Morocco, Iraq, Uzbekistan, and Algeria — over whether they would allow gay players.

“FIFA is protecting LGBT+ visibility in the stands while failing to protect LGBT+ players on the pitch,” said Tatchell.

South Africa

White House to end PEPFAR funding for South Africa

State Department says country failed to respond to 2025 executive order demands

Published

1 month ago

June 25, 2026

Michael K. Lavers

(Photo by Rarraroro via Bigstock)

The Trump-Vance administration will end PEPFAR funding for South Africa.

A State Department spokesperson on Wednesday told the Washington Blade the State Department “will begin a phased drawdown of PEPFAR programming in South Africa, with most programs ending by Sept. 30, 2026, and critical personnel support continuing through March 31, 2027.”

Semafor last week reported South Africa has received more than $8 billion in PEPFAR funding since President George W. Bush created the program to combat the global HIV/AIDS pandemic in 2003.

President Donald Trump on Feb. 7, 2025, issued an executive order that addressed what it described as “egregious actions of the Republic of South Africa.” The State Department spokesperson with whom the Blade spoke noted the directive included five specific requests:

• South African government provides exemptions or alternatives for U.S. companies to Broad-Based Black Economic Empowerment laws and other race-based mandates.

• Senior government officials (e.g., president, deputy president, or minister of justice) unequivocally condemn all race-based incitement to violence, including the “Kill the Boer” song, more frequently.

• The South African government prevents the implementation of measures that would allow expropriation without fair compensation and due process under the Expropriation Act of 2024.

• South African Police Service designates rural crime a “priority crime” and increases resources dedicated to high-crime rural areas.

• South Africa refrains from actions that would significantly interfere with the implementation of the refugee program, within the confines of South African law.

“The United States communicated to the government of the Republic of South Africa multiple times at many levels that PEPFAR funding was likely to be terminated in the absence of progress on the five asks,” said the State Department spokesperson.

The State Department spokesperson further noted South Africa is “one of the largest economies in sub-Saharan Africa” and “has funded the vast majority of its own HIV response, estimated at 76 percent of the total, including procurement of all treatment commodities.”

“South Africa will continue to be supported by the Global Fund, including for the introduction and scale up of lenacapavir through Global Fund Resources,” the spokesperson told the Blade.

Lenacapavir is groundbreaking HIV prevention drug that users inject twice a year. Eswatini, which borders South Africa, is among the African countries that have received doses of the drug through PEPFAR.

HIV/AIDS service organizations in the U.S. and around the world have sharply criticized the Trump-Vance administration over plans to not fully fund PEPFAR and to cut domestic HIV/AIDS funding.

Secretary of State Marco Rubio shortly after the current White House took office issued a waiver that allowed PEPFAR and other “life-saving humanitarian assistance” programs to continue to operate during a freeze on nearly all U.S. foreign aid spending. HIV/AIDS service providers around the world with whom the Blade has spoken say PEPFAR cuts and the loss of funding from the U.S. Agency for International Development, which officially closed on July 1, 2025, has severely impacted their work.