30 Jan A PEPFAR Suspension Will Lead to Disastrous Consequences

It’s only been 10 days since Trump 2.0’s administration began and already, we see many confusing and tumultuous executive orders taking hold and changing the global development and aid landscape.

From the US’s withdrawal from World Health Organization to the recent suspension of all USAID programming (and the direct effects these have had on thousands of USAID workers and subcontractors), you may be wondering what some of the effects of these have on communities who are reliant on programmes like PEPFAR to answer their health and medical needs.

Below we’ve attached some initial figures from calculations based on established methodologies for HIVAIDS. You can find the description of the methodologies and its figures here: https://pepfarimpact.vercel.app/

As part of the global health community, we must respond to this crisis in a way that dignifies and enables communities, especially people living with HIV and respective care workers, to continue their battle and to ultimately succeed in this endeavour. Even before Trump took office again, funding for HIV/AIDS programmes have been decreasing steadily as new diseases and health threats take shape.

Much of the progress that has been gained in the past 30-40 years since the discovery of HIV has already been under threat and dismantling PEPFAR and other life-saving programmes will continue to fuel the HIV/AIDS epidemic across the globe.

Thanks Brooke Nichols and team for these figures.