By U.S. President Donald Trump’s decision to suspend foreign aid has put Nigeria and seven other countries at risk of running out of HIV treatments, the World Health Organization (WHO) warned on Monday. The aid cut has severely disrupted the supply chain for life-saving medications.
According to WHO Director-General Tedros Ghebreyesus, Nigeria, Haiti, Kenya, Lesotho, South Sudan, Burkina Faso, Mali, and Ukraine could face a severe shortage of HIV treatments in the coming months. “The disruptions to HIV programmes could undo 20 years of progress,” Ghebreyesus stated.
Experts fear this crisis could lead to over 10 million additional HIV cases and three million HIV-related deaths, threatening decades of efforts to control the virus. The aid freeze has also impacted the fight against malaria, tuberculosis, and polio.
The WHO-coordinated Global Measles and Rubella Laboratory Network, which operates over 700 sites worldwide, faces potential closure due to funding shortages. This comes as measles cases resurge in the U.S., raising further concerns.
Ghebreyesus urged the U.S. to handle its withdrawal from funding carefully, ensuring that affected nations can secure alternative resources. “If it withdraws direct funding for countries, it must be done in an orderly and humane way,” he emphasized.
Facing a budget shortfall due to the U.S. exit, the WHO has already reduced its funding target for emergency operations from $1.2 billion to $872 million for the 2026-2027 period. The consequences of this funding gap are already visible, with numerous health facilities in Afghanistan shutting down.
