By Zweli Martin Dlamini

MBABANE:Newly inaugurated President of the United States(US) Donald Trump has agreed to close USAID, a decision that might worsen the health situation and undermine the supply of Antiretroviral(ARVs)in developing countries including eSwatini.

USAID stands for United States Agency for International Development, an organization that works directly with the US President's Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief(PEPFAR), these organizations are, and remain critical in funding various health programs in the Kingdom of eSwatini.

The PEPFAR/Eswatini (PEPFAR/E) program is coordinated through the Department of State PEPFAR Coordination Office and delivered through five US Government agencies: Centre for Disease Control (CDC), Department of Defense (DOD), Department of State (DOS), Peace Corps, and United States Agency for International Development (USAID). 

On Monday, the Cable News Network(CNN) reported that, the fate of the US Agency for International Development appeared bleak Monday after Elon Musk, the world’s richest man charged with overhauling the federal government, said President Donald Trump had signed off on shutting the agency down.

“In Washington, USAID’s headquarters was closed for the day, with employees told in an email to remain at home.Logos and photos of its aid work have been stripped from building walls. And its website and social media accounts have gone dark, replaced with a reduced version of its webpage on the State Department’s website.The longtime international aid agency has found itself in the crosshairs of Trump and Musk’s effort to reform the federal government. Trump and his allies have said the agency, created by Congress as an independent body, is overtly partisan. Democrats have rejected that assertion and say Trump does not have the authority to dismantle the agency”, CNN reported.

On another note, Elon Musk confirmed through his X social media platform that, USAID has been closed.

“With regards to the USAID stuff, I went over it with (the president) in detail and he agreed that we should shut it down,” Musk said in a X Spaces conversation early Monday.