The United Nations AIDS agency warned on Friday that more than six million people could die from HIV and AIDS over the next four years if US President Donald Trump’s administration cuts global funding for programs.
Despite a waiver being applied to HIV/AIDS programs in last month’s US foreign aid freeze, concerns remain about the future of treatment services, according to UNAIDS Deputy Executive Director Christine Stegling.
“There is a lot of confusion, especially at the community level, about how the waiver will be implemented. We’re seeing significant disruptions in the delivery of treatment services,” Stegling said.
When Trump took office on January 20, he froze hundreds of millions of dollars in foreign aid for 90 days. During this period, the US State Department issued a waiver on the President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR), the leading global HIV initiative, to allow life-saving humanitarian assistance.
While the waiver was welcomed, Stegling highlighted that the situation remained chaotic. She warned that without PEPFAR reauthorization between 2025 and 2029, AIDS-related deaths could increase by 400%, amounting to 6.3 million deaths. “Any penny, any cut, any pause, will matter for all of us,” she urged, calling for UN member states to intervene.
Stegling noted that in Ethiopia, 5,000 public health worker contracts funded by US aid had been terminated, and community clinics, which rely entirely on US government funding, were facing major disruptions.
She expressed concern that some people might avoid treatment, which could lead to an increase in new HIV infections. US funding accounts for the majority of global financial support for the UN program, which operates in 70 countries and leads efforts to eliminate AIDS as a public health threat by 2030.
Trump’s administration stated that it is reviewing all foreign aid programs to ensure they align with its “America First” policy.
