WHO expresses 'deep concern' over implications of US funding pause for HIV programs

GENEVA

The World Health Organization (WHO) expressed "deep concern" late Tuesday over the implications of the US government's immediate funding pause for HIV programs in low- and middle-income countries.

"These programs provide access to life-saving HIV therapy to more than 30 million people worldwide," the WHO said in a statement, noting that globally, 39.9 million people were living with HIV at the end of 2023.

"A funding halt for HIV programs can put people living with HIV at immediate increased risk of illness and death and undermine efforts to prevent transmission in communities and countries," the UN agency said.

"Such measures, if prolonged, could lead to rises in new infections and deaths, reversing decades of progress and potentially taking the world back to the 1980s and 1990s when millions died of HIV every year globally, including many in the United States of America."

For the global community, the WHO warned that this move could result in "significant setbacks" to progress in partnerships and investments in scientific advances that have been the cornerstone of good public health programming, including innovative diagnostics, affordable medicines and community delivery models of HIV care.

"We call on the United States government to enable additional exemptions to ensure the delivery of lifesaving HIV treatment and care," it added.