PEPFAR

USAID Cuts Impact HIV And AIDS Support Services In Uganda

What's happening with the anti-HIV program PEPFAR? It depends whom you ask

5:49pm February 13, 2025

The President's Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief has been the subject of a series of presidential orders and memos that have left uncertainty about how it operates.

A woman takes her Antiretroviral drugs (ARVs) pills during

Conflicting signals from Trump could disrupt HIV meds. What's the impact?

2:36pm January 31, 2025

A series of orders from the Trump administration have the potential to disrupt the delivery of life-saving medications to HIV positive people. Here's what a disruption of this drug regimen would mean.

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Trump pauses funding for anti-HIV program that prevented 26 million AIDS deaths

3:39pm January 25, 2025

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.

The White House Holds Daily Briefing On Coronavirus Pandemic

How will Trump's return to the White House change the face of global health?

7:59am January 17, 2025

When Donald Trump returns to the White House, he's expected to issue a series of orders with far-reaching impact on global health — from abortion services to support for the World Health Organization.

Global wishes for 2024: Pay for family leave. Empower Black men. Respect rural voices

12:25pm January 04, 2024

by NPR Staff

We asked leaders in global health and development to share their wishes for the new year. Here's what they hope will happen in the year ahead. And readers, we'd like to hear from you.

PEPFAR, the U.S. multibillion dollar effort to fight HIV/AIDS, funds organizations such as the Coptic hospital in Nairobi, Kenya.

What's behind the debate to re-authorize PEPFAR, the widely hailed anti-HIV effort?

4:05pm September 29, 2023

by Gabriel Spitzer

The program launched by President George W. Bush is credited with saving 25 million lives. Some in Congress want this year's reauthorization tied to language that PEPFAR will not "promote abortion."

President Donald J. Trump touted his plan to end the HIV epidemic during his 2019 State of the Union Address. The effort has sent $1.7 billion mainly to southern states.

Health & Safety

Trump launched an ambitious effort to end HIV. House Republicans want to defund it

4:57pm August 31, 2023

Republicans in Congress back substantial cuts to the budget of the CDC, taking aim at one of former President Donald Trump's major health programs: a push to end the HIV epidemic in the U.S.

Ambassador-at-Large John Nkengasong, who will lead the State Department's Bureau of Global Health Security and Diplomacy, speaks to the press about the new agency. He told NPR that the pandemic "taught us three key lessons. We are collectively more connected than we thought. We are more vulnerable than we thought. And we have [vast] inequities" when it comes to disease threats.

A new U.S. agency is a response to the fact that nobody was ready for the pandemic

7:31pm August 03, 2023

by Sacha Pfeiffer

The Bureau of Global Health, Security and Diplomacy, housed in the State Department, will plan for the next pandemic. We interviewed its director, virologist and global health leader John Nkengasong.

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In 2003, President George W. Bush created PEPFAR to help countries tackle the HIV/AIDS crisis. Four years later, he spoke at the Rose Garden to urge lawmakers to set aside $30 billion for the cause over the next 5 years. Joining him were Kunene Tantoh of South Africa and her 4-year-old son (pictured). Tantoh, who is HIV-positive, coordinated a U.S.-funded mentoring program for mothers with HIV.

Health & Safety

George W. Bush's anti-HIV program is hailed as 'amazing' — and still crucial at 20

12:16pm February 28, 2023

by Melody Schreiber

PEPFAR is the "most amazing thing in the history of HIV," says Dr. Sharon Lewin, president of the International AIDS Society. Bush himself came to Washington this month to urge reauthorization..

Foreign aid takes many forms — and Trump and Biden have differing perspectives. Above: Members of the Honduran Armed Forces carry a box of COVID-19 diagnostic testing kits donated by the United States Agency for International Development and the Interna

Trump And Biden On Global Issues: From Reproductive Rights To Refugees

5:04pm October 22, 2020

by Joanne Lu

Here are the positions of the two candidates on issues ranging from the Mexico City policy (involving abortion services) to refugees to membership in the World Health Organization.