Sir Elton John said he is ready to 'fight' and 'face to face' with President Trump about austerity on aids for aids.
Global health financing by the United States To tackle the global HIV/AIDS epidemic, has been threatened since the Trump government came to power.
The Rocketman singer, 78, refused to criticize Trump's White House because of his work with the Elton John Aids Foundation, but he said that the political landscape looks 'a bit shaky'.
As a decades of AIDS campaigner, Sir Elton acknowledged that he had to be 'a diplomat'.
He spoke on Wednesday evening in the London Palladium: 'I can't talk about governments. I am a diplomat.
'When I talk about governments, what will happen to the AIDS money? What will happen to Pepfar [The U.S. President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief]? '
Sir Elton John has said he is ready to 'fight' and 'face to face' with President Trump about cuts on aids for aids
“I have the lives of people at stake. I have an AIDS base that depends on money, and I will fight it as much as possible. '
“But I can't go out and say,” you are an A ** hole. You are an A ** hole. “That is not what it is about. You have to negotiate. You have to play the game. '
The candle in the wind singer then praised past the American presidents for the action they have taken to fight the AIDS crisis, and indicated his willingness to fight against possible movements to change that.
Sir Elton said, “To be honest with all the governments, since George W Bush, who initiated Pepfar, to Donald Trump, they have maintained Pepfar.”
“It looks a bit shaky now. But I go there and fight for it, even if I have to go from face to face, I will do that. '
It increases the prospect of Sir Elton who campaigns in Washington DC, who is reminiscent of the late actress Elizabeth Taylor's Crusading in the American capital.
Taylor was a prominent AIDS activist, who, after the death of her friend Rock Hudson of AIDS, became a vocal advocate for research and financing.
The Cleopatra actress lobbyed President Reagan in the White House and testified for the congress to guarantee the support of the Senate for the 1990 Ryan White Care Act, which remains the primary source of federal financing for HIV/AIDS programs nationwide.
Global health financing by the United States to tackle the HIV/AIDS epidemic, has been threatened since the Trump government came to power (President depicted on Wednesday)
As a decades of AIDS campaigner, Sir Elton, who spoke during his show in the London Palladium, spoke that he had to be 'a diplomat'
Sir Elton has long been an AIDS campaigner and played an important role in lobbying to set up the emergency plan of the two decades-old president for AIDS exemption, which was launched in 2003 by President George W Bush and estimated more than 25 million lives worldwide.
Pepfar was exempt from the cancellation of most American overseas help, after the Trump administration initially brought the program to stop and his computer systems had taken offline.
But the Pepfar is still highly dependent on logistical support of the US Agency for International Development (USAID) and the UN has warned that it will have a devastating impact.
Christian evangelical groups have also encouraged the president to save the HIV/AIDS program of the crushing cuts.
Emily Chambers Sharpe, health director at World Relief, the humanitarian arm of the National Association of Evangelicals, said that health care centers and hospitals in Africa reported 'The Supply Chain for HIV as a whole is very badly damaged' due to the loss of aid.
Matthew Loftus, a doctor and evangelical Christian who worked in a mission hospital in Kenya, told the Guardian that the damage was already caused on the ground. He said that Pepfar is 'dismantled' and that 'many people will die' as a result.
'In some places they do not get the drugs or are asked to pay cash for the drugs. Other places are completely closed and so patients try to find medicines or they go without, “he said.
He added: 'There will be consequences. As soon as you stop taking ARVs, the virus can come back online within a few days and then start to develop resistance.
'I am really afraid that there will be a couple of people who will not use their drugs and then, when we try to start them back, we will find that they are resistant.
'They can turn everything in again tomorrow and I think there would be permanent damage. As soon as you relieve people and close clinics, rebuilding trust is difficult, it is difficult to get people back. '
An estimated 20 million people are dependent on medicines supplied by Pepfar, mainly in Africa and parts of Asia.
Countries like Nigeria depend on Pepfar for almost all their HIV financing. Others are less dependent on the program, but Pepfar still offers an important health infrastructure because the clinics have medical staff who treat other disorders as part of the broader program for combating AIDS.
