Trump's U.S. Foreign Aid Cut Will Exhaust HIV Treatment Supply of Eight Countries
- paolo bibat
- Mar 19
- 2 min read
The World Health Organization (WHO) has raised alarm over the potentially devastating consequences of recent U.S. foreign aid cuts, warning that eight countries could soon exhaust their supply of life-saving HIV treatments.
This dire situation, stemming from the Trump administration's decision to pause U.S. foreign aid, threatens to unravel two decades of progress in the fight against HIV/AIDS.
According to WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, Haiti, Kenya, Lesotho, South Sudan, Burkina Faso, Mali, Nigeria, and Ukraine are at imminent risk of running out of HIV medications in the coming months.
The repercussions of this shortage could be catastrophic, with projections suggesting over 10 million additional HIV cases and three million HIV-related deaths if immediate action is not taken.
The impact of these cuts extends far beyond HIV treatment programs. Efforts to combat other infectious diseases such as polio, malaria, and tuberculosis have also been severely affected.
Moreover, the WHO-coordinated Global Measles and Rubella Laboratory Network, comprising over 700 sites worldwide, faces potential shutdown at a time when measles cases are resurging in the United States.
The humanitarian consequences of these cuts are already becoming apparent. In Burkina Faso and Mali alone, nearly 700,000 people have lost access to essential services including water, food, and healthcare.
The situation in Afghanistan is equally grim, with 80% of WHO-supported essential health care services at risk of closure due to funding shortages.
As the global health community grapples with these challenges, the WHO itself has been forced to implement austerity measures. The organization plans to reduce its funding target for emergency operations from $1.2 billion to $872 million in the 2026-2027 budget period, a move that could further compromise its ability to respond to global health crises.
The international community now faces a critical juncture. As Ghebreyesus emphasized, there is a pressing need for the United States to ensure an orderly and humane withdrawal of direct funding, allowing affected countries time to secure alternative sources of support.
The coming months will be crucial in determining whether the global health infrastructure can withstand this sudden shift in funding priorities and continue to provide essential services to millions of vulnerable individuals worldwide.
