HIV could infect 1,400 infants every day because of US aid disruptions
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Summary
A recent study using modelling from the Foundation for AIDS Research has revealed that nearly 1,400 infants are becoming infected with HIV each day due to cuts to funding from the US administration.
It was revealed last month that President Donald Trump had frozen all US government funding to the World Health Organisation.
The executive order not only froze funding to global health programmes but also stopped new foreign aid being accepted, as well as stopping all existing foreign aid assistance.
Surveys showed that a third of organisations that provide essential HIV services had to shut their doors within days of the announcement.
The US President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief was granted a waiver to continue to provide “life-saving” HIV response services, however, few organisations were able to take advantage of it.
The United Nations estimates that in 2024, fewer than 10% of the 36.7m people with HIV had access to viral load testing, a key monitoring tool for HIV treatments.