Amid continuing uncertainty over the impact of deep cuts in United States funding for humanitarian work worldwide, the head of the United Nations program coordinating the fight against HIV/AIDS warned on Monday that an additional 6.3 million people will die over the next four years if support is not restored. Several UN agencies have also recently warned that the radical cut in US support - on top of chronic underinvestment in humanitarian work worldwide - is putting millions of lives at risk across the globe.
“We will see a […] real surge in this disease - [we] will see it come back and we see people dying the way we saw them in the 90s and in [the] 2000s,” said Winnie Byanyima, executive director of UNAIDS, pointing to a "tenfold increase" in the more than 600,000 AIDS-related deaths recorded worldwide in 2023.
“We also expect an additional 8.7 million new infections. At the last count, there were 1.3 million new infections globally (in) 2023”.
Speaking in Geneva, Byanyima noted that the funding freeze announced by the White House on January 20 is set to end next month after a 90-day review.
“We have not heard of other governments pledging to fill the gap,” she told journalists.
Already, drop-in centers where HIV patients can pick up the antiretroviral drugs they need are not reopening, “for fear that this might not be consistent with the new guidelines”, she noted.
“This sudden withdrawal of US funding has led (to) shutting down of many clinics, laying off of thousands of health workers, these are nurses, doctors, lab technicians, pharmacy workers […] it's a lot.”
Focusing on Africa - where the eastern and southern parts of the continent carry 53 percent of the global HIV burden - Byanyima warned that closing down “all of a sudden drop-in centers for girls and young women will be disastrous, because more than 60 percent of new infections - amongst young - new infections on the continent are amongst girls and young women”.
Several other United Nations agencies, which rely heavily on USA funding, have also warned that the reduction in support - on top of chronic underinvestment in humanitarian work worldwide - is already having a serious impact on the communities they serve.
On Friday, the UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR) said that thousands of people in the war-torn eastern Democratic Republic of Congo have been left without life-saving assistance.
The UN's International Organization for Migration (IOM) has announced that funding cuts are having a severe impact on vulnerable migrant communities, exacerbating humanitarian crises and undermining essential support systems for displaced populations.
Along with IOM, the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) warned that the cash crunch is jeopardizing life-saving work, including progress in reducing child mortality, which has fallen by 60 percent since 1990.
“It is reasonable for the United States to want to reduce its funding - over time. But the sudden withdrawal of lifesaving support is having a devastating impact across countries, particularly Africa, but even in Asia and Latin America,” said the UNAIDS chief.
“We urge for a reconsideration and an urgent restoration of services – of life-saving services.”
And in a direct appeal to the US president, Byanyima noted that just as President George W. Bush had launched the landmark PEPFAR initiative to fight HIV/AIDS in 2003, the new occupant of the White House could also be part of the "prevention revolution" of injectable HIV injections that would only be needed twice a year.
“The deal is that an American company is enabled to produce and to license generics across the regions to produce millions and roll out this injectable to those who really need it,” she insisted.
According to UNAIDS, about 40 million people worldwide are living with HIV, based on 2023 data. Of that number, approximately 1.3 million people became newly infected with HIV that year, and 630,000 people died from AIDS-related illnesses.
For more than two decades, the US government has led the global response to HIV through the US President's Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR), the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, TB and Malaria, and its support for the Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS).
UNAIDS is a global entity established to coordinate international efforts in the fight against HIV/AIDS. The program works with governments, civil society, and other organizations to prevent the spread of HIV, provide treatment and support for people living with HIV, and reduce the stigma associated with the virus.
UNAIDS is also responsible for collecting and analyzing data on the HIV epidemic, raising awareness and advocating for policies that address the global health crisis caused by HIV/AIDS. The program combines the efforts of 11 UN agencies and organizations - UNHCR, UNICEF, WFP, UNDP, UNFPA, UNODC, UN Women, ILO, UNESCO, WHO and the World Bank - and aims to end the AIDS epidemic as a public health threat by 2030, in line with the UN's Sustainable Development Goals.
Further information
Website: UNAIDS - Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS
https://www.unaids.org
Website: UNAIDS: Impact of US funding cuts on the global HIV response
https://www.unaids.org/en/impact-US-funding-cuts