Latest news with #Byanyima
Shafaq News
02-04-2025
- Health
- Shafaq News
UNAIDS: HIV deaths to surge without US funding
Shafaq News/ Up to 6.3 million people could die from AIDS-related illnesses by 2027 if the United States fails to restore suspended humanitarian funding, the Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS) warned. The funding freeze, announced by the White House on January 20 and currently under review, is already disrupting critical HIV services globally, especially in Africa, according to UNAIDS Executive Director Winnie Byanyima. Byanyima flagged collapsing clinic operations, depleted medical supplies, and mass layoffs of health workers, projecting as many as 8.7 million new HIV infections by 2027—sharply up from 1.3 million in 2023—if the suspension continues. She also urged President Donald Trump to reverse the decision, referencing former President George W. Bush's legacy in launching the US-funded PEPFAR initiative, stating, 'We urge for a reconsideration and an urgent restoration of services – life-saving services.' The executive director emphasized the absence of alternative donors stepping in to close the funding gap, warning that the consequences would be severe without immediate action. #VIH / #SIDA « Si l'aide américaine n'est pas rétablie et qu'aucun autre financement ne vient combler ce vide, alors, dans les quatre prochaines années, 6,3 millions de décès supplémentaires liés au sida sont à prévoir. » - @Winnie_Byanyima, Directrice exécutive d' #ONUSIDA — ONU Genève (@ONUGeneve) March 24, 2025 In eastern and southern Africa—regions accounting for over half of global HIV cases—young women and adolescent girls remain most at risk, representing over 60% of new infections. In the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), where 520,000 people live with HIV, US support through PEPFAR was expected to provide treatment for at least 209,000 people in 2025. That $105 million allocation now hangs in the balance. Susan Kasedde, UNAIDS country director in the DRC, reported that hospitals are under strain, supply chains are faltering, and thousands could lose access to essential care. The funding freeze aligns with broader cuts to US humanitarian aid. UNHCR, IOM, and UNICEF have all reported major shortfalls, with refugee support, migrant assistance, and child survival services severely impacted in high-risk regions such as eastern DRC. Beyond Africa, the Middle East and North Africa face a rapidly growing HIV crisis. Frontline AIDS reported a 116% surge in cases since 2010, including a 600% increase in Egypt. The region received just 1% of global HIV funding in 2023 and operates on only 15% of the needed resources. 'The region risks being left behind,' said Golda Eid, programme lead at Frontline AIDS. 'There is still an opportunity to save lives and build a future free from AIDS, but the time to act is now.' Meanwhile, Mohammed El Khammas, head of international actions at the organization, warned that limited testing and persistent stigma are likely obscuring the full scale of the epidemic. Globally, UNAIDS estimates that 40 million people are living with HIV. In 2023 alone, 630,000 people died from AIDS-related illnesses. The agency called on governments and international donors to increase funding and adopt national strategies to combat stigma and discrimination.
Yahoo
27-03-2025
- Health
- Yahoo
UNAIDS chief urges Donald Trump to make an 'amazing deal' to end HIV
UNAIDS chief Winnie Byanyima said the sudden loss of American money has been "devastating" for efforts to stop HIV and will cost many lives of the world's most vulnerable people. But she also proposed an "amazing deal" for US President Donald Trump that she said could result in "the end of AIDS". At a news briefing in Geneva, Byanyima said that the deal would involve Trump enabling the US company Gilead to produce and licence its "magical" prevention drug lenacapavir across the world to the millions of people who need it. Related Trump's pause on foreign aid raises HIV risks for millions, World Health Organization warns Lenacapavir, sold as Sunlenca, has been shown through twice-yearly injections to completely prevent HIV infection in women and works nearly as well in men. "President Trump likes deals," Byanyima said, acknowledging that it was President George W Bush who first started paying for the widespread roll-out of HIV drugs more than two decades ago. "It could be President Trump, another Republican president, who leads the prevention revolution towards the end of AIDS," the UNAIDS director said. She added that the deal would result not only in profits for Gilead and create jobs for Americans, but save millions of lives in poorer countries. Byanyima said that American money made up about 35 per cent of UNAIDS' core budget last year, but it was unclear whether that might be restored for next year. Related US funding freeze could mean HIV treatment delays for thousands in Ukraine She said the agency was in talks with the US government but was also preparing for a worst-case scenario, in which there was no funding available from the US. Byanyima said it was unlikely any other donors would be able to fill that vacuum, adding that European donors have told the agency they would be cutting back on their support in order to redirect their funds to defence and other priorities. Byanyima said that unless support for HIV efforts is restored, there could be more than 6.3 million additional deaths in the next four years and an additional 2,000 people per day becoming infected. Related Number of Europeans diagnosed with HIV rose in 2023 with new cases in most countries She acknowledged that there has been some valid criticism regarding how HIV aid has been delivered, calling it "an opportunity to rethink and develop more efficient ways of delivering life-saving support". Byanyima also said African countries were trying to become more self-sufficient and that even some of the poorest nations were now "trying to stretch very weak, fragile health systems to absorb people living with HIV".
Times of Oman
25-03-2025
- Health
- Times of Oman
UN warns millions more will die from AIDS after US cuts
New York: The head of the United Nations program on HIV/AIDS, UNAIDS, said on Monday that over 6 million additional deaths from the disease are expected after the US slashed its funding. UNAIDS executive director Winnie Byanyima said the sudden cuts from the US, which had been the biggest donor to the program, had been "devastating." "You're talking of losing the gains that we have made over the last 25 years. It is very serious," she told reporters in Geneva. Over 6 million additional AIDS deaths "If US Assistance is not restored and not replaced by other funding — and we have not heard of other governments pledging to fill the gap — there would be an additional 6.3 million more AIDS-related deaths — in the next 4 years," Byanyima said. She pointed out that some 600,000 AIDS-related deaths were recorded globally at the last count in 2023. Byanyima also said "an additional 8.7 million new infections" were expected. Beyond the short-term, the UNAIDS chief said that without the funding gap being filled, the AIDS pandemic could return to levels not seen since the 1990s. "Not just in the countries where now it has become concentrated, in low-income countries of Africa, but also growing amongst what we call key populations in Eastern Europe, in Latin America," she said. "We will see a... real surge in this disease. We'll see it come back, and we'll see people die the way we saw them in the '90s and in the 2000s." UNAIDS chief calls on US to reconsider sudden cuts US President Donald Trump, and his close ally billionaire Elon Musk, have overseen massive cuts in federal spending, including to US foreign aid. The decision to cut funding for the fight against AIDS has sparked protests both at home and abroad. Byanyima struck an understanding tone, while calling on the White House to reconsider its decision. "It is reasonable for the United States to want to reduce its funding over time, but the sudden withdrawal of life-saving support is having a devastating impact," she said.
Saudi Gazette
25-03-2025
- Health
- Saudi Gazette
US cuts to HIV aid will cost millions of lives — UNAids chief
GENEVA — US funding cuts will lead to an additional 2,000 new HIV infections each day and over six million further deaths over the next four years, the UNAids chief has warned. It would mark a stark reversal in the global fight against HIV, which has seen the number of deaths from the disease decrease from more than two million in 2004 to 600,000 in 2023, the most recent year for which figures are available. UNAids Executive Director Winnie Byanyima said the US government's decision to pause foreign aid — which included funding for HIV programs — was already having devastating consequences. She called on the US to reverse the cuts immediately, warning women and girls were being hit particularly hard. US President Donald Trump announced the pause on foreign aid, for an initial 90 days, on his first day in office in January as part of a review into government spending. The majority of the US Agency for International Development's (USAID) programs have since been terminated. Many US-financed HIV treatment and prevention programs received stop work orders, leading to the closure of mother and baby clinics in Africa, and severe shortages of life saving anti-retroviral (ARV) medicines. Ms Byanyima said she feared a return to the 1990s, when HIV medication was scarcely available in poorer countries, and infections and deaths soared. The US has for years been the single biggest funder of HIV treatment and prevention, and Ms Byanima thanked Washington for its generosity and humanity. She added it was "reasonable" for the US "to want to reduce its funding — over time", but said the "sudden withdrawal of lifesaving support [was] having a devastating impact". There has been no sign that Washington is listening to appeals to change course. Traditional aid donors in Europe also plan funding cuts, and UNAids — the joint UN agency which combats HIV — has had no indication that other countries might step in to fill the gap left by the US. Speaking in Geneva on Monday, Ms Byanyima described the case of Juliana, a young woman in Kenya living with HIV. She worked for a US-funded program that supported new mothers to access treatment to ensure their babies did not develop the disease. With the program suspended, Ms Byanyima said Juliana was not only out of work but, because she was still breastfeeding her youngest child, she also feared losing the treatment she needed. Previously, the World Health Organization (WHO) said eight countries — Nigeria, Kenya, Lesotho, South Sudan, Burkina Faso, Mali, Haiti and Ukraine — could soon run out of HIV drugs after the US funding pause. WHO chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus warned that disruption to HIV programs "could undo 20 years of progress". In February, South Africa's leading Aids lobby group, the Treatment Action Campaign (TAC), warned the country could see a return to when HIV patients struggled to access necessary services for their treatment. "We can't afford to die, we can't afford to go back to those years where we were suffering with access to services, especially for people living with HIV treatment," said TAC chair Sibongile Tshabalala. Ms Byanyima also proposed a deal to the Trump administration, offering an opportunity to market a new US-developed ARV to millions of people. Lenacapavir, made by US company Gilead, is given by injection every six months, with UNAids believing 10 million people could benefit from it. The profits and jobs resulting from such a deal would be hugely beneficial to the US, Ms Byanyima added. UNAids is one of a number of UN agencies facing funding cuts. The UN Refugee Agency has suggested it may have to lose 6,000 jobs, while Unicef has warned that progress to reduce child mortality is threatened, and the World Food Programme has had to cut rations in famine threatened regions. — BBC
Yahoo
24-03-2025
- Health
- Yahoo
UN fears HIV infections will soar after US cuts funding
Daily new HIV infections around the world could almost double without the aid provided by the United States, the UN programme for combatting HIV and AIDS (UNAIDS), said in Geneva on Monday. Executive director Winnie Byanyima expressed understanding for the desire of the United States to cut back its funding for aid projects around the world, but an abrupt withdrawal by the US would have devastating consequences, she said. No other donors had thus far indicated that they would cover the loss. Many African governments were working to boost contributions to health care, she noted, but that can't happen immediately. Byanyima put the UNAIDS budget for 2024 at $220 million, more than half of which had been funded by the US. Thousands of HIV-infected people were no longer receiving medication as a result of the US cutback, and without reliable care, the virus could spread rapidly again, she said. Over the next four years, 8.7 million new infections and 6.3 million additional deaths could occur without US funds, according to UNAIDS projections. Byanyima said that US President Donald Trump could conclude a good deal by allowing the US company Gilead to distribute its medication to at-risk individuals, thereby making a large profit. UNAIDS put the number of new HIV infections in 2023 at 1.3 million around the world, and the number of deaths from AIDS complications at 600,000. Byanyima called on the US administration to resume funding as soon as possible.
