Around 77 000 fewer children worldwide received HIV treatment supported by the United States (US) in the year to October 2025 than in the previous fiscal year, according to a study that found declines after the Trump administration’s cuts and changes to foreign aid.
The study refers only to US supported care, and some of the children may have received treatment through national governments or other donors.
The analysis of US government data found US supported pediatric HIV treatment fell by around 14% year-on-year, although the researchers said more detailed country-level data were needed to assess the full impact.
“These are signals, not a verdict. But children cannot wait,” said Kenneth Ngure, professor of global health at Jomo Kenyatta University of Agriculture and Technology and a co-author of the study, presented at the AIDS 2026 conference in Rio de Janeiro on Tuesday.
Other studies, including by United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS, have also shown gaps in the HIV response since the cuts.
The US State Department said it had not reviewed the study in detail but its methodology was flawed.
They said the decline was a sign of the success of the program, as fewer children were getting infected with HIV, and the numbers on treatment had been going down for four years.
–Reuters–
