We must not sit back and watch this disaster unfold

When the UK government’s AIDS: Don’t Die of Ignorance campaign was launched in 1986, I was in primary school. But like so many other people, I can still recall the harrowing tombstone and iceberg adverts on television. The devastating human impact of the Aids epidemic is well-documented and made a long-lasting impression on me.

- RAGESHRI DHAIRYAWAN

Decades later, as an NHS consultant working in the field, I have had the privilege of witnessing astonishing medical advances. Today, with medication, a person living with HIV can lead a long, healthy life and not pass on the virus to others.

However, cuts to HIV treatment and prevention threaten to roll back this progress and endanger the lives and human rights of millions of people around the world. The Independent reports that disruptions in consistent antiretroviral supply may result in emerging resistance to first-line drugs.

On 20 January 2025, the Trump-led US government implemented a 90-day freeze on international aid, to review whether the US was being prioritised in every programme. The United States Agency for International Development (USAID) was closed and 10,000 of its staff were fired overnight. To date, USAID has distributed more than $40bn a year of aid, including HIV programmes under PEPFAR (President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief). As of 2023, more than 25 million lives have been saved worldwide.