The Trump administration's disruptions to a global AIDS relief program have forced organizations to close clinics, lay off staff, and cut services, seriously impeding efforts to prevent and treat the disease in dozens of countries, a new report shows.
The President's Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR) is credited with saving at least 26 million lives since its inception in 2003. But last year, it was impaired by the dismantling of the U.S. Agency for International Development and cuts to thousands of global health grants.
"The disruptions were very widespread," with services for young women, orphans, and children impacted, said Elise Lankiewicz, policy associate for the nonprofit amfAR, the Foundation for AIDS Research, which released the report.
Researchers contacted groups that got PEPFAR funding to deliver HIV services last year. Nearly a quarter -- 166 groups from 46 countries -- responded to an electronic survey conducted between last November and April, providing information on their funding, staff, and services.
The survey didn't reach all PEPFAR groups and certain types of organizations -- like those that were most severely disrupted or still receiving U.S. funding -- may have been less likely to respond. That could result in an underestimate or an overestimate of disruptions, depending on which organizations were missed. Nevertheless, the findings are a window into the struggles that some groups faced last year.
