US actions undermine global HIV prevention, new study finds

Mothers in Lesotho walk for hours to reach facilities only to find HIV testing unavailable. HIV infections could jump more than sixfold if U.S. support is dropped and not replaced. U.S. actions are already undermining HIV prevention and treatment in dozens of countries, with millions of lives at risk by 2029 if the money does not come back.

In Geneva on 1 February 2025, all essential HIV services must continue while the United States pauses foreign aid funding. On 24 March 2025, UNAIDS warned that USAID cuts could drive 2,000 new HIV infections every day, a pace that would quickly reverse gains in testing, prevention and treatment.

Clinics serving vulnerable people have shut, and health workers have been laid off in droves. PEPFAR, the U.S. program that has long anchored HIV treatment funding across Africa, is now at risk after the aid freeze, and South African NGOs have warned that Donald Trump’s policy will hit treatment access. At least 25 countries are increasing domestic HIV/AIDS budgets after deep cuts in U.S. foreign assistance, and South Africa has announced a plan to help fill part of the gap.