UN: Donald Trump's Aid Freeze Could Lead to Millions of AIDS-Related Deaths

Photo: AFP

President Donald Trump's decision to stop U.S. overseas funding could lead to millions more deaths from AIDS, according to the head of the UN's program for the disease. The United States is the biggest donor of foreign aid in the world, with much of the money going through the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID).

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In January, when Trump returned to office, he ordered most U.S. foreign aid to be frozen for three months. This decision left global aid groups working quickly to understand the effects it would have.

Winnie Byanyima, the executive director of UNAIDS, said the situation is serious. She explained to AFP that many countries will face significant challenges if the funding is stopped, especially because so much of the money helps fight AIDS. "If it goes away, people are going to die," Byanyima warned.

This freeze also affected the President's Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR), which supports over 20 million people living with HIV and 270,000 healthcare workers. PEPFAR's work was suspended for 90 days, although some medication was still allowed under special rules.

Byanyima said that, without the aid, the number of deaths could increase by ten times, reaching 6.3 million over the next five years. She also said new HIV infections could rise to 8.7 million in the same time period, based on estimates from UNAIDS.

While the U.S. government has promised that life-saving treatments will not be affected by the freeze, aid workers in Africa say some health centers have already had to shut down. Byanyima, speaking at the African Union summit in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, said she had talked to leaders about how countries could reduce their dependence on foreign aid by using money from their governments.

However, Byanyima pointed out that many African nations are facing massive debt, with some countries spending more than half of their total income just to pay off debts. This makes it hard for them to cover the cost of important services like healthcare and education.

She emphasized that debt restructuring—changing the terms of how countries pay off their debts—could help some of these nations afford better health and education services.

USAID, which was created in 1961, has an annual budget of more than $40 billion. This money is used to help support development, health, and humanitarian projects, especially in poor countries.