紐時賞析／美衛生官員遭川普政府解雇 海外愛滋病童自生自滅

Experts Fighting H.I.V. In Children Are Let Go

美專家被裁 海外愛滋病童自生自滅

The Trump administration has dismissed the few remaining health officials who oversaw care for some of the world’s most vulnerable people: more than 500,000 children and more than 600,000 pregnant women with HIV in low-income countries.

川普政府解雇了剩餘不多負責監管照護世界最弱勢人們的衛生官員：低收入國家有超過5萬名孩童，以及超過60萬名孕婦感染了愛滋病毒。

Expert teams that managed programs meant to prevent newborns from acquiring HIV from their mothers and to provide treatment for infected children were eliminated last week in the chaotic reorganization of the Health and Human Services Department.

在美國衛生及公共服務部混亂重組的過程中，負責管理防止新生兒從母親感染愛滋病、並提供遭感染孩童療程專案的專家團隊於上周被解散。

While it was known that some staff members devoted to HIV prevention in other countries had been lost, The New York Times has learned that all such experts have now been terminated or are awaiting reassignment at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the State Department and the U.S. Agency for International Development.

儘管眾所周知，一些致力於在其他國家預防愛滋的工作人員一直流失，但「紐約時報」獲悉，這類專家現在已被解雇，或正等待疾管署、國務院和美國國際開發署重新指派工作。

These maternal health programs are still funded by the President’s Emergency Plan For AIDS Relief, or PEPFAR. But without personnel to manage the initiatives or to disburse the money, it’s not clear how the work will continue.

這些孕產婦保健專案仍由「總統防治愛滋病緊急救援計畫」資助，計畫縮寫為PEPFAR。但若沒有人員管理這些措施和撥付資金，就不清楚這項計畫將如何持續下去。

The Health and Human Services Department did not respond to a request for comment.

美國衛生及公共服務部對此沒有回應。

On Tuesday, a study in The Lancet estimated that suspending PEPFAR could lead to about 1 million new HIV infections by 2030 and could lead to nearly 500,000 AIDS deaths among children and the orphaning of 2.8 million more.

周二，醫學期刊「刺胳針」的研究估計，中止PEPFAR可能會導致截至2030年前，約100萬名新生兒將感染愛滋，並且可能使接近50萬名孩童死於愛滋，超過280萬名孩童恐成為孤兒。

After the nascent Trump administration froze all foreign aid, Secretary of State Marco Rubio issued a waiver permitting delivery of “core lifesaving medicine, medical services” and other activities funded by the United States.

新上任的川普政府凍結所有對外援助後，國務卿魯比歐頒布一項豁免，允許運送「核心救命藥物、醫療服務」，及由美國資助的其他活動。

A waiver specific to PEPFAR later explicitly continued support for programs meant to prevent mother-to-child transmission of HIV, and to provide treatment of infected women and children.

針對PEPFAR發布的豁免，表明持續援助防治母嬰愛滋傳播的專案，並提供感染的婦女和孩童療程。

The paperwork allowing the aid to resume took weeks after the waiver was issued, and several organizations are only just beginning to receive federal funds required to run the programs.

豁免發布後，允許重啟援助的文書工作耗時數周，且多個組織才剛開始領取營運計畫所需的聯邦資金。

All experts in pediatric HIV were let go in the gutting of USAID, leaving a single unit at the CDC with the expertise to advise overseas programs. That team was lost in last week’s reorganization, along with another that handles disbursement of funds for 300 grants in more than 40 countries.

在美國國際開發署裁員潮中，所有兒童愛滋專家都被解雇，僅剩疾管署內一個單位具備專業知識供海外計畫諮詢。這個團隊連同另一個負責向40多國撥付300筆津貼的團隊，在上周的重組被解散。

文／Apoorva Mandavilli　譯／羅方妤