mobanmarketArriving in Malawi for a five-hour visit focused on her anti-bullying campaign as well as education and healthcare Thursday afternoon, First Lady Melania Trump was immediately confronted with American health workers eager to send her a message about her husband’s impact on the country.
Holding signs reading, “#MElania TOO” and “Trump’s slash to PEPFAR = millions of children’s lives in Africa,” protesters called on the first lady to use her role to help reverse President Donald Trump’s aid cuts, which have drastically affected reproductive, maternal, and HIV/AIDS care throughout Africa, as well as the anti-choice global gag rule he reinstated after taking office.
“Our message is that Melania Trump should return home to persuade President Trump to reverse the serious budget cuts his administration has proposed concerning poor countries,” Rachel Pope, a doctor and social justice advocate, told the local Nyasa Times.
“We see firsthand in Malawian hospitals the shocking effect the budget cuts may ultimately have,” she added. “Up to 28,000 maternal deaths in this country can be prevented and thousands of women, children, and HIV and AIDS patients could be saved from death if, for example, the PEPFAR [President’s Emergency Fund for AIDS Relief] funding could not be reduced.”
Trump has proposed cutting U.S. efforts to fight HIV and AIDS by $800 million, including cuts to PEPFAR. Malawi has one of the highest HIV rates in the world, with about half of new infections affecting young people aged 15 to 17.
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