Cuts to the U.S.-funded President's Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR) have caused widespread disruptions in HIV services globally, according to a report released on Tuesday, July 21, 2026. The report, produced by amfAR, The Foundation for AIDS Research, highlights that these funding cuts have forced clinics to close and staff to be laid off in dozens of countries.

Launched in 2003, PEPFAR is credited with saving at least 26 million lives. However, spending on HIV prevention fell by 51% between the 2024 and 2025 fiscal years, based on PEPFAR's expenditure data. Elise Lankiewicz, a policy associate at amfAR, stated, "The disruptions were very widespread."

Despite these challenges, the U.S. State Department reported in April 2026 that PEPFAR provided standard HIV treatment to 20.6 million people in more than 50 countries between July and September 2025, a figure stable compared to the same period the previous year. Additionally, the number of pregnant and breastfeeding women started on PrEP more than doubled to 103,000.

Contrastingly, a separate study published in June 2026 in the journal Nature Health found that nearly two million fewer people living with HIV received PEPFAR-supported antiretroviral treatment in fiscal year 2025 compared with the previous year, marking a decline of about 10%.

The report underscores the degradation of the infrastructure built to deliver HIV services worldwide, with the most severe impact on populations and partners critical to controlling the epidemic. It warns that "each day that we don't have those systems in place, you see new infections," emphasizing the deadly consequences of these disruptions.

These developments raise significant concerns about the stability and future effectiveness of global HIV programs.

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