In the survey entitled "Impact of US funding cuts: an overview of HIV product availability and management risks", focused on the situation in 56 countries up to 28 April, UNAIDS stressed that the sudden suspension of US foreign assistance resulted in a multifactorial increase in risks and challenges, especially on the African continent.
Angola, for example, is on the list of countries with six or less months' stock of at least one HIV testing product.
According to UNAIDS, Angola only had Bioline confirmatory test kits for the current month of May.
The same list also includes countries such as the Democratic Republic of Congo, Ethiopia, Ivory Coast, Guatemala and Ukraine.
The report also indicates that about 23 percent of the 56 countries analyzed reported six months' or less of stock of condoms – the most commonly used HIV prevention method – or PrEP – a medication taken to prevent HIV infection.
"This is happening against a backdrop of a global decline in subsidized and public sector procurement of condoms, which has fallen by an average of 30 percent since the peak in 2011," UNAIDS, the United Nations programme created in 1996 to find solutions and help nations combat HIV/AIDS, said in its analysis.
In some cases, gaps in condom availability are due to accessibility issues, often associated with the cessation of outreach activities and mobile clinics that distributed condoms to vulnerable groups, as in Lesotho, Malawi or South Sudan.
In addition, around 14 percent of countries have six or fewer months of 'stock' of at least one line of antiretroviral drugs, used to treat the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV).
Countries such as Brazil, Botswana, India, Kazakhstan, Panama and the Philippines have reported a low to minimal risk of shortages of antiretrovirals, as they purchase them directly from domestic resources.
Funding for antiretrovirals comes from a variety of sources, and their availability and effective delivery depend on well-coordinated efforts by stakeholders.
Even when HIV supplies are available in the country, they do not always reach health facilities, creating shortages for patients and undermining confidence in the continuity of treatment.
Around 46 percent of countries reported supply chain management issues.
In this regard, the level of uncertainty and public concern regarding the continued availability and access to free antiretroviral treatment has increased significantly.
Around 18 percent of countries reported public reactions to uncertainty, among other changes in individual behavior regarding antiretroviral treatment.
In the face of aid cuts from Washington, national authorities have mobilized for supplementary budgetary allocations to ensure the availability and management of HIV supplies.
In its analysis, UNAIDS included Angola and Mozambique on the list of countries that reported challenges in supply chain management and mitigation actions.
Regarding Angola, "although there is a stock of HIV products in the regional warehouse, logistics are disrupted and cases of stock shortages have been reported in one of the provinces supported by PEPFAR" – the United States' funding plan to address the global HIV/AIDS epidemic.
Another Portuguese-speaking country mentioned on this list was Mozambique, where "previous challenges with the transport of health products to health centers may already be being resolved", since CHEGAR, the project responsible for the transport of health products, "recently resumed work with alternative financing arrangements", said UNAIDS.
In a more general scenario, "if funding is not restored or replaced, progress will be lost", said the organization's director in Tajikistan this Thursday, a country that "will lose about 60 percent of its HIV program funding" if US resources are not replaced.
United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres will present his report on HIV to the General Assembly in New York next Thursday.
