Public Health Expert Warns U.S. HIV Funding Cuts Could Set Back Global Progress | IAS 2025

The recent U.S. pullback from funding global HIV prevention programs through the President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR) has sparked concern among public health experts. One of those speaking out is Mulugeta Gebregziabher, Ph.D., a professor of public health at the Medical University of South Carolina and a federal employee with the Veterans Administration.

In an interview with Managed Healthcare Executive, he expressed that although he works for the state and federal government, his views are his own and do not represent the positions of either institution.

Gebregziabher presented his views this week at the IAS 2025 meeting in Kigali, Rwanda, where researchers and other professionals in the field gathered to discuss the future of HIV prevention and treatment.

A U.S. citizen originally from Africa, Gebregziabher highlighted the central role PEPFAR has played in the global HIV response.

According to the 2025 UNAIDS report, the program supported HIV testing for 84 million people and treatment for 20.6 million in 2024 alone. He warned that the Trump administration’s decision to reduce funding for prevention puts decades of progress at risk.

“In the United States, there are approximately 1.2 million people living with HIV/AIDS, and 13% of them don’t even know it,” he said, adding that this means they need testing.

HIV/AIDS continues to disproportionately impact racial and ethnic minorities, gay and bisexual people, and men who have sex with men, he added.

He expects the U.S. to be a leader in this area—especially at a time when the country starts disinvesting from the CDC and USAID and even pulls out from the WHO. He added that infectious diseases don’t recognize borders and that collaboration is crucial right now.

Despite these concerns, Gebregziabher remains hopeful.

He sees promise in prevention tools such as PrEP and believes the global health community will rally to maintain progress toward goals like 95-95-95: diagnosing 95% of people with HIV, getting 95% of those diagnosed on treatment and achieving viral suppression in 95% of those treated.

However, he warned that without stable U.S. leadership and funding, both domestic and international HIV efforts could lose critical momentum.