The International AIDS Society (IAS) has called on US President Joe Biden to consider legislating against the possible return of global gag rule in future, a statement from IAS media officers, Michael Kessler and Leila Darabi, said.
The statement made available to the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN), on Friday, in Ibadan, said the policy, first put in place by President Ronald Reagan, was reinstated in 2017 by the immediate past US president, Donald Trump.
The policy denied US foreign assistance to organizations that provide information, referrals or services, related to legal abortion or advocate for abortion, even with their own money.
The IAS said that the most recent iteration was expanded to apply to almost all US global health bilateral assistance, including the President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR).
But, President Biden on assumption of office, signed an Executive Order repealing the harmful US-Mexico City Policy, commonly known as the global gag rule.
He lifted the restrictions by signing the “Memorandum on Protecting Women’s Health at Home and Abroad,” which Adeeba Kamarulzaman, the IAS President, described as a welcome development.
“The IAS welcomes the end to the harmful global gag rule and urge the US administration to consider legislation preventing the global gag rule from returning in the future.
“Ending HIV requires equitable access to information and services for women and all people seeking care, not censorship,” Kamarulzaman said.
Birgit Poniatowski, IAS Executive Director, also lauded the new development, saying the policy threatened to roll back progress in the global HIV response.
“As HIV professionals, we saw firsthand the impact of the global gag rule from its first iteration – barring and disrupting access to health care for women around the world.
“In its expanded form, the policy threatened to roll back progress in the global HIV response,” Poniatowski said.
It would be recalled that the IAS had issued a previous statement, in which it shared deep concerns over the repercussions of the increased restrictions and threat to the success of PEPFAR.
The IAS had at the 22nd International AIDS Conference (AIDS 2018), also hosted a news conference, featuring evidence and analysis of the far-reaching impact of the expanded policy on PEPFAR recipients.(NAN)
