In the world of spin and political short-termism, few stories are as tragically ironic as this.
After 22 years of what has been hailed – rightly – as one of the greatest public health success stories in modern history, the global fight against HIV/AIDS is now teetering on the edge of collapse. Not because science has failed. Not because the virus has suddenly grown stronger. But because the political will is evaporating.
A new study in The Lancet HIV sounds the alarm: swingeing cuts to global HIV funding – driven largely by the US and its allies – could lead to 10.8 million new infections and 2.9 million deaths by 2030. That’s not just a backslide. That’s a regression to the blood-soaked nightmare of the early 2000s. A preventable tragedy, scripted by spreadsheets.
Imagine: the same nations that built Pepfar, the Bush-era initiative that saved millions, are now letting it unravel. America once led the charge. Now, under Trump 2.0, it’s dismantling USAID’s infrastructure with a bureaucratic sledgehammer labelled “efficiency.”
These aren’t just numbers. These are real people, living and dying in Malawi, Mozambique, South Africa and beyond. Clinics shuttered. Vaccine trials frozen. Appointments missed because transport money has vanished. These cuts don’t just affect numbers on a budget sheet. They impact real people who rely on these services for their health. It’s easy to kill a legacy with a red pen. Much harder to rebuild one in a cemetery of forgotten promises.
In the age of billionaires, bioengineering, and blockchain buzzwords, it’s remarkable that something as basic as antiretroviral treatment still hangs by a political thread. The HIV crisis isn’t over. The medicine is there. The knowledge exists. But the money no longer is. What does that say about us?
