Nigeria and several other countries are running out of life-saving HIV drugs in the coming months following the United States’ recent decision to halt foreign aid, the World Health Organization (WHO) has warned.
WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus sounded the alarm on Monday, stating that disruptions to HIV treatment programmes could reverse two decades of progress in combating the disease.
“Disruptions to HIV programmes could undo 20 years of progress,” he said at a press conference, warning that the impact could result in over 10 million additional HIV infections and three million HIV-related deaths. “This is more than triple the number of deaths recorded last year.”
The affected countries include Nigeria, Kenya, Lesotho, South Sudan, Burkina Faso, Mali, Haiti, and Ukraine, all of which are expected to face shortages of anti-retroviral (ARV) drugs in the coming months.
The crisis stems from an executive order signed by US President Donald Trump on his first day in office in January, pausing foreign aid for an initial 90-day review period as part of his “America First” policy. The freeze has significantly impacted global health programmes, leading to delays and cancellations in shipments of essential medical supplies, including ARV drugs.
The suspension has also affected the US President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR), a landmark initiative launched in 2003 that has been credited with saving more than 26 million lives.
Despite a waiver issued in February allowing the programme to continue, its operations remain severely disrupted due to its reliance on logistical support from the now-halted US Agency for International Development (USAID).
Dr. Tedros noted that the freeze had resulted in an “immediate stop to services for HIV treatment, testing, and prevention in more than 50 countries.”
The situation is particularly dire in sub-Saharan Africa, where approximately 25 million people live with HIV—more than two-thirds of the global total of 38 million cases. In Nigeria, nearly two million people rely on aid-funded ARV medications. Kenya, which has the seventh-highest number of HIV cases globally, has around 1.4 million people living with the virus.
While acknowledging the US government’s historical generosity, Dr. Tedros urged Washington to ensure an “orderly and humane” transition if it withdraws direct funding for global health programmes.
“We ask the US to reconsider its support for global health, which not only saves lives around the world, but also makes the US safer by preventing outbreaks from spreading internationally,” he said.
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