STEVE INSKEEP, HOST:
We have an update now on the effect of a cutoff in foreign aid to Zambia. Five months ago, we met people whose lives were turned upside down when the Trump administration cut assistance, meaning that those with HIV could no longer get their daily medications. Many, like house painter Brian Chiluba, were getting sick as a result. Here he is in April talking with NPR's Gabrielle Emanuel.
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BRIAN CHILUBA: I feel weakness. Weak, weak, weak. I'm going to lose my life. And I will leave my children suffering.
INSKEEP: It's been a hard story to hear, repeated in many parts of the world. But something remarkable has happened since. Gabrielle learned this when she checked back in with people in Zambia. Gabrielle, welcome.
GABRIELLE EMANUEL, BYLINE: Hi there.
INSKEEP: So let's start with Brian. Is he OK?
EMANUEL: Well, there is some good news. Brian is now getting a steady supply of his medicine. It's not coming from his U.S.-funded clinic, which remains closed, but from a Zambian government clinic. Here is what happened. When we did our reporting in April, Zambian officials read our stories published on npr.org. And they reached out to a local pastor featured in our stories. His name is Billiance Chondwe, or Pastor Billy. And he says officials who called him didn't believe what they read in our stories, that people in the pastor's congregation and community were not able to get their HIV medications any longer.
BILLIANCE CHONDWE: We saw them deny that there is no truth in what we were saying. Why are we saying there is no medicine?
EMANUEL: The officials then showed up in Kitwe, Zambia, and asked to meet with the people we profiled. When they saw for themselves that people really were getting sick and that they were being turned away from government hospitals, which had some supply of HIV meds, the officials changed their tune.
INSKEEP: Wow. So they realized what was going on. And what did they do?
EMANUEL: So they teamed up with Pastor Billy. He helps people get to the government clinics, and officials make sure they can get care. Pastor Billy has 38 volunteers, and they've helped over 1,000 people reconnect with care.
INSKEEP: That's amazing. Because of the NPR story. Does this mean that people's lives are back to normal?
EMANUEL: No because there is this other huge problem. Brian, who we heard from at the top, he doesn't have enough food and same with others that I spoke to. The issue is that most people in Zambia are extremely poor. According to the World Bank, 60% of the population lives on less than $2 a day.
INSKEEP: Wow.
EMANUEL: Getting enough food to eat is a real problem. And since you cannot take HIV drugs on an empty stomach, U.S.-funded clinics used to provide a bit of food to their patients, things like beans or fish. When the clinics shut down, that stopped. So just last week, I called up a 16-year-old girl who I met when I was in Zambia. And she told me she now has her HIV meds again, but she only has one meal a day, cornmeal porridge before bed.
INSKEEP: This is a reminder if we needed one that staying healthy is not just a matter of taking the right medication. It's a lot more.
EMANUEL: That's right. And the U.S. knew that back when it designed its HIV/AIDS program. So you have to remember, 20-some years ago, AIDS was devastating communities in the U.S. and elsewhere. And Africa was especially hard hit. So when the U.S. marshaled its resources to control the epidemic, it built a whole web of services and supports. What happened in January is that the Trump administration abruptly pulled that web apart. Now, they have put one or two pieces back. So for example, some U.S.-funded clinics have reopened. But much of that web is still broken in many African countries. I did reach out to the U.S. State Department for comment, but they didn't get back to me.
INSKEEP: NPR's Gabrielle Emanuel. Thanks for your reporting, which may well have saved some lives.
EMANUEL: Thank you. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
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