HIV care providers are running out of medicine thanks to Trump’s foreign aid cuts

Healthcare providers around the world are running short on crucial HIV medicines since President Donald Trump began cutting foreign aid for HIV care last year.

The International Planned Parenthood Foundation, which supports sexual and reproductive healthcare globally, recently surveyed its member organizations and found that more than half of respondents had run out of certain HIV medicines or resources in the last year. The survey included 40 of the foundation’s 102 member associations globally.

“Without reliable access to these basic commodities, the established service delivery capacity of [member organizations] will not translate into uninterrupted care for clients,” a survey report released this month reads.

HIV test shortages were the most common form of shortage among respondents, and barriers to accessing condoms and pre-exposure prophylaxis, or PrEP, were also widely observed.

Historically, the United States has played a major role in funding HIV prevention and treatment abroad through programs like PEPFAR, the President's Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief. But in his second term, Trump has scaled back funding for international aid programs, including very successful HIV care programs.

These funding cuts have “reduced access to resources for millions of people who depended on the programs globally,” according to UNAIDS, or the Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS.

The loss of funding reduced access to resources for millions of people who depended on the programs globally, according to UNAIDS.

Last year marked the biggest hit in government funding of HIV care in low- and middle-income countries since governments began scaling up international efforts to combat the virus. This funding fell by $2.1 billion between 2024 and 2025, or roughly 25 percent, according to a 2025 report from UNAIDS and the health policy research nonprofit KFF.

In response to the survey, the International Planned Parenthood Foundation announced it would provide $600,000 in emergency funding to meet supply gaps in affected countries.

The foundation identified Barbados, Lebanon, Madagascar, and São Tomé & Príncipe as its highest priorities, given current shortages. It also named Cameroon, Côte d’Ivoire, Eswatini, Haiti, Liberia, Morocco, North Macedonia, the Philippines, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, the Solomon Islands, Sri Lanka, Suriname and Zambia as “medium priority.”

“Whilst $600,000 was made available, the gaps reported in the detailed quantification added up to a product value of over $1.5 million USD over the next two years” for treatment and prevention supplies in some critically affected member countries, the survey report read.

“Investments in HIV commodity requirements and maintaining strong supply chains are a critical priority for IPPF moving forward, particularly as global supply chains are expected to come under further pressure and HIV case numbers continue to rise,” the report continues. “Targeted donor support is essential to support this effort.”