Devex: PEPFAR seeks coordination with other aid donors, says U.S. AIDS chief
“Ambassador Deborah Birx, the U.S. global AIDS coordinator, says she is not worried about the Trump administration’s repeated proposals to slash her budget, but that is not stopping her from looking for other sources of funding wherever she can find them. This year, for the first time, the President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief is actively pursuing opportunities to enlist other countries’ official development assistance in its efforts to control the epidemic, Birx said in a discussion with Devex President and Editor-in-Chief Raj Kumar on Tuesday. … Birx has repeatedly downplayed the impact of these proposals on PEPFAR’s programs. On Tuesday, she said that an administration’s budget is not the sole indicator of its support for a given program. She pointed to President Donald Trump’s endorsement of efforts to defeat AIDS within the U.S. ‘and beyond’ in his 2019 State of the Union address…” (Igoe, 2/5).