The UNAIDS program head has said millions more will die as a result of the sudden cuts to funding by the Trump administration. She also warned that the AIDS pandemic could return to 1990s levels.

The head of the United Nations program on the HIV/AIDS pandemic, UNAIDS, said on Monday that over 6 million additional deaths from the disease are expected after the US slashed its funding.

UNAIDS executive director Winnie Byanyima said the sudden cuts from the US, which had been the biggest donor to the program, had been “devastating.”

“You’re talking of losing the gains that we have made over the last 25 years. It is very serious,” she told reporters in Geneva.

Over 6 million additional AIDS deaths

“If US Assistance is not restored and not replaced by other funding — and we have not heard of other governments pledging to fill the gap — there would be an additional 6.3 million more AIDS-related deaths — in the next 4 years,” Byanyima said.

She pointed out that some 600,000 AIDS-related deaths were recorded globally at the last count in 2023.

Byanyima also said “an additional 8.7 million new infections” were expected.

Beyond the short-term, the UNAIDS chief said that without the funding gap being filled, the AIDS pandemic could return to levels not seen since the 1990s.

“Not just in the countries where now it has become concentrated, in low-income countries of Africa, but also growing amongst what we call key populations in Eastern Europe, in Latin America,” she said.

“We will see a… real surge in this disease. We’ll see it come back, and we’ll see people die the way we saw them in the ’90s and in the 2000s.”

UNAIDS chief calls on US to reconsider sudden cuts

US President Donald Trump, and his close ally billionaire Elon Musk, have overseen massive cuts in federal spending, including to US foreign aid.

The decision to cut funding for the fight against AIDS has sparked protests both at home and abroad.

Byanyima struck an understanding tone, while calling on the White House to reconsider its decision.

“It is reasonable for the United States to want to reduce its funding over time, but the sudden withdrawal of life-saving support is having a devastating impact,” she said.

“We urge for a reconsideration and an urgent restoration of services, life-saving services.”

Edited by: Jenipher Camino Gonzalez

DW News