Global HIV funding cuts can cause over 10 mn infections, 3 mn deaths by 2030: Lancet
Sydney, March 27: The significant reductions in international funding for HIV prevention and treatment programmes may result in more than 10 million infections, and about 3 million deaths by 2030, according to a study published in The Lancet HIV journal on Thursday. The study, conducted by a team at the Burnet Institute in Australia’s Melbourne models the impact of a projected 24 per cent reduction in global HIV funding by 2026. This follows announced aid cuts of 8 per cent to 70 per cent by key donors, including the US, Britain, France, Germany, and the Netherlands. These five countries collectively fund over 90 per cent of global HIV assistance.
This could lead to an estimated “4.4 to 10.8 million additional new HIV infections and 770,000 to 2.9 million HIV-related deaths in children and adults between 2025 and 2030 if funding cuts proposed by the top five donor countries, including the US and the UK, are not mitigated,” said the researchers. The US, the largest contributor to global HIV funding, halted all assistance on January 20, following the swearing-in of the new US President Donald Trump. The loss of the President's Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR), combined with other funding cuts, now threatens to reverse progress toward ending HIV/AIDS as a global health crisis by 2030, revealed the study.
“The US has historically been the largest contributor to global efforts to treat and prevent HIV, but the current cuts to PEPFAR and USAID supported programmes have already disrupted access to essential HIV services including antiretroviral therapy and HIV prevention and testing. Looking ahead, if other donor countries reduce funding, decades of progress to treat and prevent HIV could be unravelled,” said co-lead study author Dr. Debra ten Brink of the Burnet Institute.
The findings showed that sub-Saharan Africa, and marginalised groups who are already at a higher risk of acquiring HIV, such as people who inject drugs, sex workers, and men who have sex with men, as well as children would be the most affected. Co-author Dr. Rowan Martin-Hughes from the Institute showed that besides limiting testing and treatment programmes, sub-Saharan Africa would see a cut in broader prevention efforts, such as distributing condoms and offering pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP a medication that reduces the risk of getting HIV). “It is imperative to secure sustainable financing and avoid a resurgence of the HIV epidemic which could have devastating consequences, not just in regions such as sub-Saharan Africa, but globally,” Brink said.