The President's Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief, or PEPFAR, provides billions in funding to organizations to combat HIV.

On Friday, a memorandum signed by Marco Rubio called for a 90-day cessation of foreign aid. That would likely put on hold the work of PEPFAR, the President's Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief.

President Donald Trump has ordered a halt to a decades-old program dating back to the George W. Bush administration that has saved millions of lives abroad by distributing HIV medications to low-income countries,

A new report estimates that 135,987 babies will be born with HIV during the 90-day stoppage on foreign aid spending.

PEPFAR has saved 25 million lives around the globe and is considered George W. Bush's greatest achievement. Donald Trump has left its future in doubt.

But late last week, the State Department, led now by former Florida Senator Marco Rubio, issued a memo clarifying that the freeze includes current foreign assistance programs as well, including the President's Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief, or PEPFAR. Also affected is USAID, which will hamper global efforts to combat tuberculosis (TB).

Since PEPFAR’s inception, the US government has invested over $100 billion in the global HIV/AIDS response. According to WHO, this the programme provide access to life-saving HIV therapy to more than 30 million people worldwide. Globally, 39.9 million people were living with HIV at the end of 2023.

The action originates from President Trump’s executive order on foreign aid, which he signed on his first day in office last Monday.

These diseases had once been extraordinary rarities. When HIV hit, they were everywhere. I remember how I blew up gloves into balloons to distract the kids, so small and polite, their hair neatly braided. I remember how they died.

The United States government has suspended support for HIV treatment in Nigeria and other developing countries following a directive from President Donald Trump. The U.S. State Department has paused the disbursement of funds from the President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR) for at least 90 days.

The US State Department has lifted the ban on HIV aid to SA and other low-income after President Donald Trump issued a directive to halt it in his first week.