Global Health Crisis Looms as Funding Cuts Threaten Fight Against AIDS, TB, and Malaria

Global Health Crisis Looms as Funding Cuts Threaten Fight Against AIDS, TB, and Malaria
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Global efforts to combat three of the world’s most widespread infectious diseases—AIDS, tuberculosis (TB), and malaria—are now severely threatened by dramatic cuts to global health financing, according to Doctors Without Borders/Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) cited on Reliefweb.int.

The crisis stems from the United States, historically the largest global health funder, which in January announced a suspension and review of all international aid. Consequently, the US and other donor nations have failed to fulfill their pledges to the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria for the 2023–2025 cycle, resulting in unprecedented program cuts across more than 120 countries.

MSF warns that this lack of financial support risks huge setbacks to decades of progress in reducing illness and death. The organization is already witnessing the consequences: in Honduras, for instance, sudden cuts to the US President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR) caused the immediate loss of HIV prevention tools and led to an increase in advanced opportunistic infections among patients.

The funding shortfall is compelling hundreds of community-based health organizations to scale back vital services. MSF stresses that the reality of infectious diseases is that “when left unchecked, they worsen and they spread,” and urges the US to urgently maintain its critical support for the Global Fund.