Global HIV/AIDS Programs Under Threat From Trump's Proposed Budget Cuts

With the 9th International Aids Society (IAS) Conference on HIV Science set to be held in Paris from July 23 - 26, as well as last week's United Nations report saying, for the first time in the fight against AIDS, related deaths almost halved since 2005, advocates are still worried about what President Donald Trump's proposed budget cuts would mean for the future of global HIV programs.

Days after assuming office, Trump signed an executive order Jan. 23, banning international not-for-profit organizations from providing abortion services or offering information about them if they received U.S. funding. With the stroke of a pen in the presence of seven more men, the president might also have affected HIV programs worldwide.

Last week, the United Nations said more than half of all people with the HIV virus have access to treatment but advocates remain concerned Trump's proposed budget cuts from the biggest donor nation, which is said to reduce financial aid to global HIV programs by $1 billion, CGTN America reported. In May, Trump released his administration's detailed budget for the year 2017-2018 which revealed the massive cuts proposed by the administration including many programs that are essential for the treatment and prevention of HIV/AIDS and STDs.

Read: How A Woman Yells 'I'm HIV-Positive' To Escape From Being Raped By Men

There are still many parts in the world which are at risk of HIV infection. One example would be Sub-Saharan Africa where many young women aged between 15 and 24 are more susceptible to getting infected with HIV, with a 44 percent higher infection rate than their male peers. “When you see this youth wave and you see the risk to young women. If in this moment we don’t figure this out and really get these programs to scale, we’re not going to have the impact on the epidemic we were hoping to have,” said Deborah Birx from the U.S. Global AIDS Coordinator, according to CGTN America.

The IAS Conference in Paris will focus on new approaches and opportunities for curing HIV. However, Prof Linda Gail Bekker, the president of the IAS said international leaders are taking different stances on "prioritizing future investment into HIV science."

Bekker hoped that the conference would be an opportunity to motivate the participating countries to help fight the current threats to HIV research funding, Daily Nation reported.

“This is not the time for the donors to disengage since it’s going to stall projects and cost the countries a big deal,” she said.

Read: HIV Positive Track Coach Allegedly Assaulted 7 Boys Sexually

Among the regions in the world which are lagging behind in HIV cure are the Middle East, North Africa, Eastern Europe and Central Asia, where AIDS-related deaths have pointedly risen. Exceptions, however, include Algeria, Morocco and Belarus, which have increased HIV treatment access from 2010 to 2016, according to the UN report released last week.

The report also showed that globally, 30 percent of people with HIV still do not know their status, 17.1 million are unable to access Accessing Antiretroviral Therapy and more than half are not virally suppressed.