Trump's Trials - Amid U.S. funding cuts, the International AIDS Conference faces an uncertain future

Episode Date: July 28, 2026

The fate of the global campaign to end AIDS as a public health threat by 2030 is now in doubt, as the Trump administration's aid cuts have taken a tremendous toll.Support NPR and hear every episode of Trump's Terms sponsor-free with NPR+. Sign up at plus.npr.org.See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for sponsorship and to manage your podcast sponsorship preferences.NPR Privacy Policy

I'm Scott Detrow, and this is Trump's terms from NPR. Every episode, we bring you one story from NPR's coverage of the Trump administration with the focus on actions and policies that take the presidency into uncharted territory. Here's the latest from NPR. From NPR News, I'm A. Martinez. Thousands of the world's top HIV researchers, activists, and humanitarian groups are in Rio de Janeiro for an AIDS conference this week. As NPR's Duri Bouscaran reports, they are Trump. trying to chart a path forward after global funding cuts.

For decades, the U.S. was the single biggest funder of the global HIV response. Now, UNAIDS executive director Winnie Bionema said in an opening press conference, that may be its undoing. Community organizations are closing. Prevention programs are shrinking. Health workers are losing jobs. People are already losing access to care. International funding for HIV dropped by $2.1 billion. in dollars last year. That's a 25% cut. And by anima warned, that the world could see a resurgence of HIV and AIDS if it does not act. Their consequences are entirely predictable. When prevention disappears, infections rise. When treatment is interrupted, people die. Last year, the Trump administration

delayed payments and then slashed about 30% of the funding to PEPFAR. This is a program established under the George W. Bush administration to provide medication and support to people living with HIV in more than 50 countries. It's credited with saving about 26 million lives. The funding that remained came with conditions. Annette Son runs the Treat Asia program for Amphar, the Foundation for AIDS Research. We are all trying to figure out how to navigate this new reality because things keep changing. The ground keeps shifting underneath our feet. In a statement, the U.S. State Department claimed that the funding cuts had, quote, strengthened PEPFAR through clear strategic direction, promoting greater recipient country ownership and sharpening the program's focus on measurable health outcomes.

But, says Amfar's on its son, that makes it harder to help groups at the highest risk of contracting HIV, men who have sex with men, transgender people, and sex workers. We don't always have full transparency into what those programs will now support. This week's UNAIDS conference will include presentations, on successes, including trials of two HIV medications, a twice-yearly injection and a weekly pill. Dr. Kenneth Naguere is president-elect of the International Aid Society. We have very good advances, scientific advances in terms of new products that are easier to use. His hope is that aid cuts won't prevent these drugs from getting to the people who need them the most.

Dari Buscarin and Pierre News, Washington. A note before we go, if you value this show and want to help keep it going, a free and totally easy way to support us is to rate and review Trump's terms on the platform where you listen in a world of algorithms that goes a long way toward helping us reach new listeners. If you have left a review in the past, thank you so much. I'm Scott Detrow. Thanks for listening to Trump's Terms from NPR.