HIV and AIDS deaths could increase globally amid US aid freeze, UN says

If funding that has been frozen by the United States is not restored or replaced, according to the UN AIDS agency, there could be 2, 000 new HIV infections every day and a 10-fold increase in related deaths, possibly in the millions, in the future.

When Donald Trump took office on January 20th, the US put almost all of its foreign aid on hold. The US Department of State announced that the President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR) would continue its life-saving HIV work.

However, UNAIDS executive director Winnie Byanyima stated to reporters in Geneva on Monday that the disruption to health funding and the impact on broader services were having a devastating impact on those living with HIV/AIDS.

We are now predicting that new infections will rise as a result of this sudden withdrawal of US funding, which has resulted in the closure of numerous clinics and the dismissal of thousands of health workers. According to UNAIDS, we could experience 2, 000 new infections daily, she said.

There will be an additional 6.3 million AIDS deaths in the next four years if funding from the US Agency for International Development (USAID) did not resume at the end of the 90-day pause, in April, or was not replaced by another government.

She said, “We’ll see it come back and we’ll see people die as we saw them in the 1990s and the 2000s,” and that she will also.

Byanyima stated that the figures were based on UN modeling, but she would not provide more information about how the estimates had been reached.

In 2023, there were 600, 000 deaths related to HIV/AIDS, according to the most recent data.

UNAIDS, which coordinates the global response to preventing and treating HIV/AIDS, received US $ 50 million in core funding last year, accounting for 35% of the UN agency’s budget.

According to the Trump administration, funding was frozen to ensure compliance with the president’s “America First” strategy. Marco Rubio, the US’s secretary of state, said waivers had been granted for life-saving services in response to concerns that Washington is ending foreign aid.