On World AIDS Day, thinking of progress and how to build on it in the face of hostility

https://fed.brid.gy/r/https://www.advocate.com/news/world-aids-day-progress-setbacks

Funding cuts could cause 3.3 million additional HIV infections by 2030: report

https://fed.brid.gy/r/https://www.advocate.com/news/hiv-funding-cuts-new-infections

DOGE is gone, leaving behind 300,000 fired federal workers, 600,000 USAID deaths, and more

https://fed.brid.gy/r/https://www.advocate.com/politics/doge-lgbtq-impact-elon-musk

Lesotho was on track to meet UNAIDS' goal of ending the #AIDS epidemic as a public health threat by 2030. Until it lost 23% of #PEPFAR funds. Now, community clinics are closed and patients don't have access to treatment: https://apnews.com/projects/Lesotho-usaid-cuts-africa-HIV-aids-pepfar/

‘Risks and opportunities’ in US global health strategy
#Health #USHealthStrategy #PEPFAR #GlobalHealth #HIVResearch #LMICs #HealthEquity #PublicHealth #GlobalPartnerships #HealthPolicy #InfectiousDiseases #HealthFunding #ResilientHealthSystems
https://the-14.com/risks-and-opportunities-in-us-global-health-strategy/

OMG! #PEPFAR funding is being withheld by the OMB! Contact your reps today and urge them to take back the power of the purse: https://act.pih.org/pepfar-apportionment

Previously, the organization’s guiding ambition was to end #HIV as a #PublicHealth threat by 2030. But the #Trump admin has targeted #PEPFAR for sharp reductions, part of a broad move to cut #ForeignAid, which federal ofcls believe is wasteful & a misuse of taxpayers’ money.

The abrupt termination of congressionally approved funding for the nonprofit organizations that partnered w/PEPFAR has already hobbled the program & crippled the global HIV response.

#law #Constitution #SeparationOfPowers

Created during the George W. Bush admin, the #HIV treatment & prevention program has long enjoyed broad bipartisan support. It is often cited as the single most effective #PublicHealth campaign ever, saving an estimated 26 million lives in #LowIncome countries over 22 years.

The draft plan for shutting it down in coming years underscores ongoing tension between #Congress, which has repeatedly indicated support for #PEPFAR, & #Trump admin ofcls who wish to sharply curtail or end it.

#law

The proposed plan has been under review for weeks, & word of it already has reached PEPFAR’s partners & govts in other countries. The draft obtained by NYT contains comments & edits from many senior staff members at the program.

#PEPFAR was crippled during the chaotic first few months of the #Trump admin, as #ElonMusk’s *cost-cutting* initiative, the #DOGE, slashed existing contracts, funding arrangements & govt structures.

#law #SeparationOfPowers #Congress #PublicHealth #ForeignAid

“With targeted investment, PEPFAR’s #HIV control capabilities in these countries could be transformed into a platform for rapid detection & outbreak response to protect Americans from disease threats like Ebola,” the plan says.

A #State Dept spox said the document had not been finalized. “The referenced document is not reflective of the State Dept’s policy on #PEPFAR & was never cleared by Dept leadership,” she said.

She declined to be identified & did not provide additional details.

#law

#PEPFAR, as the program is called, would cease to exist as an initiative to provide medicines & services needed to treat & prevent the spread of #HIV in #LowIncome countries.

It would be replaced by “bilateral relationships” with low-income countries focused on the detection of #outbreaks that could threaten the #US & the creation of new markets for American drugs & technologies, acc/to the documents.

#Trump #law #Constitution #SeparationOfPowers #Congress #PublicHealth #ForeignAid #SoftPower

The federal program to combat #HIV in developing nations earned a reprieve last week when #Congress voted to restore $400M in #funding. But that may be short-lived: Ofcls at the #State Dept have been mapping out a plan to shut it down….

Planning documents for the President’s Emergency Plan for #AIDS Relief [#PEPFAR], obtained by NYT, call for the organization to set a new course that focuses on “transitioning” countries away from US assistance, some in as little as 2 years.

#Trump #law

#Trump Admin Quietly Drafts Plan to End Program That Saved Millions From #AIDS

#PEPFAR, the campaign to end #HIV
globally, would morph into an effort to detect #disease #outbreaks & sell American products, according to documents obtained by NYT.

#law #Constitution #SeparationOfPowers #Congress #PublicHealth #ForeignAid #SoftPower
https://www.nytimes.com/2025/07/23/health/pepfar-shutdown.html?smid=nytcore-ios-share&referringSource=articleShare

HIV crisis: World must defuse ‘ticking time-bomb’ https://www.scidev.net/global/news/hiv-crisis-world-must-defuse-ticking-time-bomb-un/

According to Grinsztejn, the sweeping US cuts threaten to undermine systems supporting HIV research, prevention and care, at the very moment when the scientific tools and knowledge are becoming available to end the HIV pandemic.

#HIV #PEPFAR #USAID

OMG

U.S. Quietly Drafts Plan to End Program That Saved Millions From AIDS’
#PEPFAR, the campaign to end H.I.V. globally, would morph into an effort to detect disease outbreaks and sell American products, according to documents obtained by The Times. https://www.nytimes.com/2025/07/23/health/pepfar-shutdown.html?smid=nytcore-ios-share&referringSource=articleShare

PEPFAR, the campaign to end H.I.V. globally, would morph into an effort to detect disease outbreaks and sell American products, according to documents obtained by The Times.

Cha-ching! $$$$$$

U.S. Quietly Drafts Plan to End Program That Saved Millions From AIDS
https://www.nytimes.com/2025/07/23/health/pepfar-shutdown.html

#PEPFAR #TrumpDidThis #RepublicansDidThis #GOPKakistocracy #Project2025 #NoRepublicansEverAgain #USPol

The U.S. Senate has moved to spare the world’s biggest HIV treatment and prevention program — which funds drugs and research in more than 50 countries —from $400M of aid cuts imposed by Donald Trump.

From @Independent: https://flip.it/roQMfX

#AIDS #HIV #PEPFAR #News #USPolitics #Trump

#PEPFAR rollback was rejected by congressional Republicans, breaking from the #Trump admin’s wider push to reduce #foreignaid. The decision comes as global health systems brace for the effects of broader U.S. funding cuts on #HIV treatment access.

https://theglobeandatlas.com/u-s-hiv-aid-program-pepfar-avoids-400-million-cut-amid-global-impact-concerns/?utm_source=mastodon&utm_medium=jetpack_social

Africa: IAS Welcomes U.S. Bipartisan Move to Protect PEPFAR: [IAS] IAS - the International AIDS Society - welcomes the bipartisan move in the US Senate to protect the President's Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR) from proposed USD 400 million cuts in President Trump's rescission package. However, both the Senate and House must still vote on the final rescission package, and further changes could be reintroduced… http://newsfeed.facilit8.network/TLxl6t #PEPFAR #AIDS #PublicHealth #Bipartisan #USSenate