The United Nations’ top AIDS official warned Friday that deep cuts in international aid were putting the global response to HIV “at risk,” as a new report revealed the extent of the disruption to HIV prevention efforts.
Last year, the new administration of US President Donald Trump – with the help of then-Chancellor Elon Musk – dismantled the world’s largest aid agency, the US Agency for International Development (USAID), and reduced global funding.
Countries including the UK, France and Germany have followed suit in cutting aid funding, leaving humanitarian organizations reeling and severely impacting efforts to combat diseases such as HIV that particularly affect the world’s poorest and most vulnerable people.
“This is the most serious disruption in the response to HIV since the world came together to fight this disease,” said Winnie Byanyima, Executive Director of UNAIDS.
She said the significant progress the world was making in the fight against HIV was already stalling, but was now “at risk due to sudden cuts”.
Byanyima added that it will take some time for the full impact of these funding cuts to become clear – but there are already signs that hard-won gains are being reversed.
testing, and lower rates of PrEP
Data in a new UNAIDS report showed that the number of people taking the vital HIV drug PrEP fell by 38% in 62 countries between 2024 and 2025. Agence France-Presse
