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Aid Cuts Hit Disease Prevention Hardest
16 Sep
Summary
- Global aid cuts disproportionately impacted disease prevention programs.
- Treatment services were prioritized over prevention to save lives.
- Future infection rates risk increase due to scaled-back prevention.
Global efforts to combat AIDS, malaria, and tuberculosis have been significantly hampered by reduced aid funding in the past year. The head of the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria noted that prevention programs bore the brunt of these cuts, a decision made to safeguard existing treatment services.
While these immediate measures saved lives, they risk a future increase in new infections. The Global Fund's latest report indicates that treatment programs largely held steady, with increases in antiretroviral therapy for HIV and continued tuberculosis treatment. Insecticide-treated bed net distribution also saw an increase.
However, the impact varied across countries, with disruptions in tuberculosis case-finding and delays in malaria prevention campaigns. Notably, access to pre-exposure prophylaxis for HIV prevention decreased by 300,000 people in 2025 compared to the previous year. Experts caution that the long-term consequences of these prevention cutbacks will inevitably lead to future infections and increased mortality.
