WHO urges US to maintain support for HIV treatment programs

WHO urges US to maintain support for HIV treatment programs

/ 09:49 AM January 29, 2025

WHO urges US to maintain support for HIV treatment programs

US President Donald Trump signs an executive order on the US withdrawal from WHO (World Health Organization) in the Oval Office of the White House in Washington, DC, on January 20, 2025. Agence France-Presse

GENEVA — The World Health Organization on Tuesday urged the United States to reconsider its decision to suspend funding for HIV treatment programs in developing countries, after President Donald Trump ordered a freeze on foreign aid.

“We call on the government of the United States of America to enable additional exemptions to ensure the delivery of lifesaving HIV treatment and care,” the UN health body said on X, adding that it had “deep concern” over the funding pause.

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Shortly after his inauguration, Trump signed an executive order directing the United States to withdraw from the WHO, a body he has repeatedly criticized over its handling of the Covid-19 pandemic.

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READ: Trump signs order to pull US from WHO, citing funding disparities

In response, the WHO said it was reviewing its priorities ahead of the withdrawal of the United States, its largest donor.

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With regards to HIV, the agency said Tuesday that its programs provided access to “life-saving HIV therapy to more than 30 million people worldwide”.

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READ: CDC ordered to stop working with WHO immediately, upending expectations of an extended withdrawal

It said the US funding cuts, “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”.

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