Surge in AIDS deaths worldwide linked to funding cuts, says UN

An uncounted number of extra people have died from AIDS and 2.5 million have lost access to medicine to block the spread of HIV, because of cuts to global programmes since Donald Trump returned to the White House, the UN body fighting AIDS said on Tuesday.

- Reuters

“Persistent funding shortfalls and the perilous risks facing the global HIV response are having profound, lasting effects on the health and well-being of millions of people throughout the world,” said a report by UNAIDS.

The report said UNAIDS’ community partners had reported deaths of people living with HIV due to the shuttering of local clinics and treatment, although the exact number of additional deaths remains unclear as data collection was still ongoing.