UN says if US funding for HIV programmes not replaced, millions more will die by 2029

YEARS of American-led investment into AIDS programmes has reduced the number of people killed by the disease to the lowest levels seen in more than three decades, and provided lifesaving medicines for some of the world's most vulnerable.

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But in the last six months, the sudden withdrawal of US money has caused a “systemic shock,” UN officials warned, adding that if the funding isn't replaced, it could lead to more than 4 million AIDS-related deaths and 6 million more HIV infections by 2029.

“The current wave of funding losses has already destabilised supply chains, led to the closure of health facilities, left thousands of health clinics without staff, set back prevention programmes, disrupted HIV testing efforts and forced many community organisations to reduce or halt their HIV activities,” UNAIDS said in a report released Thursday.

UNAIDS also said that it feared other major donors might also scale back their support, reversing decades of progress against AIDS worldwide — and that the strong multilateral cooperation is in jeopardy because of wars, geopolitical shifts and climate change.

The USD 4 billion that the United States pledged for the global HIV response for 2025 disappeared virtually overnight in January when US President Donald Trump ordered that all foreign aid be suspended and later moved to shutter the US AID agency.