Hundreds of HIV doctors and researchers have urged the Trump administration to reverse its significant aid funding cuts, warning they are “doing catastrophic harm” to the global fight against AIDS.
The open letter, addressed to US Secretary of State Marco Rubio, states that the cuts, implemented since President Trump’s return to the White House, threaten to reverse decades of progress in combating HIV, tuberculosis, malaria, and other health crises.
“Unless reversed, the dismantling of the US-supported AIDS response will cause the deaths of an estimated six million people in the next four years, decades of progress will be reversed, and the world will face growing HIV epidemics across the globe,” the letter, dated Thursday, stated.
The cuts, which have seen 83% of USAID contracts terminated, have “virtually eliminated” PEPFAR, a crucial anti-HIV initiative credited with saving an estimated 26 million lives.
The letter also highlights the immediate halting of medical trials, leaving participants “stranded,” and the stripping of funding and staff from research institutions. Johns Hopkins University has announced over 2,000 layoffs due to the USAID cuts.
The signatories, including Nobel laureate Francoise Barre-Sinoussi, argue that even if the cuts are eventually deemed illegal by US courts, the “human suffering and loss of lives happening now cannot be reversed.”
The US government has cited spending reduction as the reason for the cuts, while Trump advisor Elon Musk has publicly stated his intention to drastically reduce USAID’s influence.
The letter was released during the Conference on Retroviruses and Opportunistic Infections in San Francisco, following protests across the US calling for support for science.
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