The United States has announced that it shortens $ 50 million (37 million GBP) for the Sambiian health sector in the amount of USD 50 million, since the country is not tackled by donated drugs and medical care with the “systematic theft”.
This “difficult” decision was made after repeated warnings from the sambian government to protect important drugs that were intended for the most endangered patients in the country, said the US ambassador in Sambia Michael Gonzales.
“We are no longer ready to overwrite life -saving medication that we have provided free of charge,” he added, “he added.
The Sambian government has not yet been commented on.
The cuts are separated from the extensive agency that was announced by President Donald Trump in January.
The sambian health sector is greatly financed by foreign donors, but there were previous reports on widespread embezzlement and corruption in which high -ranking health officials were involved.
The United States accounts for about a third of public health expenditure in Sambia according to a statement by the US message in the country.
However, US officials said that they had discovered the “nationwide theft” of medical products that should be distributed free of charge for the public, but were now sold by private pharmacies.
In a one-year study carried out by the US message, more than 2,000 pharmacies were sold across Zambia.
“In these visits, 95 percent of the pharmacies that sold the types of products that offer the United States also sold stolen goods,” the explanation said.
Almost half of the pharmacies visited was found that the medication donated by the US government and supplies were sold.
Further pharmacies were also found that were sold by the Sambian government, the global fund and the other donor partners in Zambia.
The US message said that she presented her findings and offered experts for measures to stop further theft and to put the culprits in court in April last year, but no measures were taken.
“I regret that the government’s measures have so far been drastically no more than the obligation to protect the US support and life that we want to save,” said the message.
The law enforcement agencies in Zambia have concentrated on “actors with a low level” and led to the arrest of “only a few civil servants with a medium level” instead of examining the sources of care and pursuing the masterminds behind the theft of medication.
Gonzales said that the USA “can” no longer “justify the American taxpayer who continues to provide such a massive level of support”.
He said the cuts would affect drugs to treat malaria, HIV and TB.
“This is not a decision that we made slightly,” said Gonzales and shed tears when he explained how the measure would affect Sambian patients.
The auxiliary cuts will come into force in January of next year to give the Sambian government time to develop alternative agreements, but he said “the decision was made”.
Since the Office of Trump administration, she has reduced global health programs into billions of dollars and hit African countries such as Zambia, where HIV continues to threaten young people and young adults.
Trump announced the AID freezer on his first day in office in January in accordance with his “America First” foreign policy.
The aid cuts have influenced health programs across Africa, including the deliveries of critical medical care, including HIV medication.
The majority of the USID programs of the US Agency for International Development, which has supported vulnerable nations in terms of health and humanitarian, Since then.
In March, Sambia’s President Hakainde Hichilema said that Trump “hit us on both cheeks” and said it was time for his country to strengthen his treasury to procure his own medication.