A study published in the journal The Lancet HIV warns that proposed cuts by the world's largest donor countries to foreign aid funding could undo decades of progress made in ending HIV/AIDS as a public health threat and deaths could skyrocket back to the levels of the early 2000s.
As noted, since 2015, international donors have contributed approximately 40% of all HIV funding to low- and middle-income countries, making their support vital to global HIV treatment and prevention efforts. The United States, the United Kingdom, France, Germany and the Netherlands together account for over 90% of international funding. However, these countries have recently announced plans to implement significant cuts to foreign aid, leading to a projected 24% reduction in global international funding for HIV by 2026. In addition, the United States government, which provides nearly 73% of total support, suspended all foreign aid funding (with limited exceptions) on 20 January 2025 for 90 days, to conduct a review and assessment of funding.
As estimated in the modeling study for 26 countries, if the funding cuts to HIV-related programs announced by the five largest donor countries are not mitigated, there could be worrying impacts: by 2030, there could be between 4,4 and 10,8 million additional new HIV infections in low- and middle-income countries and between 770.000 and 2,9 million deaths from the virus among children and adults.
The greatest impact from funding cuts is estimated to be in sub-Saharan Africa and on vulnerable and marginalized populations.
From 2010 to 2023, many countries currently receiving support have made significant progress in HIV treatment and prevention with an annual reduction of 8,3% in new infections on average and 10,3% in HIV-related deaths.
The researchers are calling on the global community to unite to support continued funding for HIV programs.
Source: protothema
