35,000 workers lost jobs, 72,000 HIV patients affected after USAID funding freeze - civil society

Speaking to the press on Thursday, they said that over 35,000 health workers have been rendered jobless and 150 clinics have closed shop.

They added that 72,000 Kenyans taking ARV medication have also been affected, posing a huge risk in managing the patients' welfare.

"We will have people from facilities and counties how this integration is affecting them because not every healthcare worker has the knowledge and skills to manage HIV because of issues of stigma and discrimination," one of the representatives stated.

"If they can absorb all the workers that were being supported by the US government that is one step forward."

They have urged the government to ensure seamless operations in all the health sectors that were operating through foreign aid, adding that they should ensure adequate funding is allocated to cater for the looming health crisis in the country.

They also called on the President Donald Trump-led administration to withdraw its closure and help prevent the health sector from collapsing.

United States issued a stop-work order freezing all foreign assistance, including health programs supported through the U.S. President's Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR), on January 30.

It later announced a limited waiver of the 90-day order, allowing the resumption of some critical life-saving programs.

That waiver now means that organizations funded by the U.S. government will continue to receive funding for core life-saving medicines, medical services, food, shelter, subsistence assistance, supplies and reasonable administrative costs necessary to deliver such assistance.

However, funding remains suspended for abortion services, family planning, conferences, gender, diversity and inclusion initiatives, transgender surgeries and non-life-saving assistance.