Nearly 500,000 children could die from AIDS-related causes due to Trump’s foreign aid freeze

A new study published in The Lancet reveals that nearly 500,000 children are at risk of dying from AIDS-related causes by 2030 if the Trump administration doesn’t restart the PEPFAR programs it cut after taking office.

The study found that if the US President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR) is suspended or only receives limited, short term funding, 1 million additional children could become infected with HIV and 500,000 children could die from AIDS by 2030. As many as 2.8 million children could also become orphaned in the next five years.

The PEPFAR program was launched by former Republican president George W. Bush in 2003 to fund HIV prevention, treatment and care by ensuring access to antiretroviral therapy, reducing mother-to-child transmission, and supporting community-based programs that target key populations and marginalised individuals.

As of 30 September 2023, the US State Department estimated that 25 million lives had been saved because of PEPFAR, while 5.5 million babies were born HIV-free to mothers living with HIV. PEPFAR also enabled critical care and support to be provided to 7 million orphans, vulnerable children and their caregivers.

Read more about the study here.