Sir Elton John is prepared to fight for HIV funding for his foundation following cuts to treatment grants and aid by the Donald Trump administration.\
Speaking at the London Palladium on Wednesday night, the British singer-songwriter expressed his disappointment over the cuts, saying people’s lives are at stake.
{snip}
Alongside being a veteran singer-songwriter, Elton John runs his own foundation, which caters to individuals living with HIV and AIDS.
However, with the Trump administration expressing and beginning to implement decisions to cut relief funds that support the activities of John’s organization and others like it, the accomplished pianist has revealed he won’t let that happen without a fight.
{snip}
Despite his annoyance over the changes, John doesn’t intend to make any rash criticism of the government as he believes it contradicts his diplomatic status. He also fears such an act would further worsen the situation.
“I cannot speak out about governments. I’m a diplomat,” he said.
“If I speak out about governments, then what’s going to happen to the AIDS money? What’s going to happen to PEPFAR [The U.S. President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief]?”
{snip}
“I cannot go out and say, ‘You’re an ahole. You’re an ahole.’ That’s not what it’s about. You have to negotiate. You have to play the game,” the “Candle in the Wind” singer added.
John went on to praise other former U.S. presidents for not cutting funding to PEPFAR in the past and reiterated his stance to fight to keep the funding coming in.
“To be fair to all the governments, since George W. Bush, who initiated PEPFAR, to Donald Trump, they have kept PEPFAR going,” the singer said.
He added, “It looks a little shaky now. But I’m going to go there and fight for it, even if I have to go face to face, I will.”
{snip}
“In some places, they’re not getting the drugs or they’re being asked to pay cash for the drugs. Other places are completely closed, and so patients are scrambling to find medications or they’re going without,” said Matthew Loftus, a doctor working at a mission hospital in Kenya.
He added: “There are going to be consequences. Once you stop taking ARVs, within days the virus can come back online and then start developing resistance.”
Loftus also noted that even if the funding is restored, there would still be “permanent damage.”
“Once you fire people and close clinics, rebuilding trust is difficult, getting people to come back is difficult,” he said.
Other Concerned Experts Have Slammed The Relief Cuts
Several other experts at the heart of HIV and AIDS research have also slammed the cuts, per CNN.
“This is just pure chaos and insanity,” said Dr. Colleen Kelley, chair of the HIV Medicine Association.
{snip}
Dr. Perry Halkitis, dean and Hunterdon Professor of Public Health & Health Equity at Rutgers University, also said that the cuts are a “cause for alarm.”
“HIV remains a significant public health challenge throughout the nation, particularly for sexual and gender minority individuals and people of color,” Halkitis added.
“As a public health dean, HIV researcher for over two decades, and proud gay man, I am deeply concerned about the impacts these grant eliminations will have on our ability to end AIDS.”
Elton John And Donald Trump Seem To Have A Good Relationship
John and Trump seem to have a good relationship. The U.S. president famously called North Korean leader Kim Jong Un “Little Rocket Man,” a reference to the singer’s famous song, “Rocket Man.”
During a chat with Variety at the Toronto Film Festival, John shared that he found the nickname “brilliant” and “hilarious.”
{snip}
Trump first coined the term “little rocket man” in 2017 in a tweet criticizing then-Secretary of State Rex Tillerson’s efforts to negotiate with Kim Jong Un.
John added that he wasn’t surprised Jong Un hadn’t heard of him, joking, “Of course, he hasn’t heard of me, Kim Jong Un. I’d be very surprised if he had. I’ve never toured North Korea, and I have no intention of doing so.”