U.S. Terminates Agreement with UNAIDS, Disrupting Global HIV Response

The United States Government has officially ended its agreement with the Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS), a significant development that could disrupt global efforts to combat HIV/AIDS.

This move follows an Executive Order issued by U.S. President Joe Biden on January 20, 2025, titled “Reevaluating and Realigning U.S. Foreign Aid.” The order mandated a 90-day freeze on all foreign aid for review, which included a halt in U.S. assistance to UNAIDS.

UNAIDS shared the update on its website on Friday, stating that it complied with the Executive Order by suspending contracts and activities related to U.S. funding. However, on February 27, 2025, the organization received a formal notice from USAID terminating its agreement with UNAIDS immediately, causing significant concern for the global HIV response.

This abrupt termination is expected to severely impact the continuity of critical HIV services, especially for people living with and affected by HIV, as well as civil society organizations and healthcare partners globally. UNAIDS has since reached out to the U.S. government for further clarification on the decision.

According to UNAIDS, 52 countries have already reported disruptions in their HIV responses due to the funding freeze. Among the most affected is Nigeria, which relies heavily on U.S. foreign aid for its HIV treatment programs, receiving 47% of its resources from U.S. funding and 94% from donor sources.

The World Health Organization (WHO) also expressed alarm over the potential consequences of the funding pause. In a statement, the WHO warned that halting HIV program funding would put millions of people living with HIV at risk of illness and death, potentially reversing decades of progress in the fight against the disease. The global health body stressed that a prolonged funding stoppage could lead to an increase in new infections and deaths, undoing significant advancements made since the 1980s and 1990s.

As of December 2023, an estimated 39.9 million people were living with HIV worldwide, with significant portions of this population depending on continued treatment and prevention services funded by international donors. This disruption is therefore seen as a setback in the fight against the global HIV/AIDS epidemic.