Countries such as Mozambique, South Africa, Uganda, and Zimbabwe, would suffer the most

SYDNEY, Australia | Xinhua | An Australian medical institute warns in its latest study that international funding cuts for HIV programs could cause 10.75 million new infections and 2.93 million preventable deaths between 2025 and 2030.

Published in The Lancet HIV on Wednesday, the study, conducted by Melbourne-based Burnet Institute, models the impact of a projected 24 percent reduction in global HIV funding by 2026, following announced aid cuts of 8 percent to 70 percent by key donors, including the United States, Britain, France, Germany, and the Netherlands, who collectively fund over 90 percent of global HIV assistance.

The United States, the largest contributor to global HIV funding, halted all assistance on Jan. 20. The loss of the President's Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR), combined with other funding cuts, now threatens to reverse progress toward ending HIV/AIDS as a global health crisis by 2030, according to new modeling from Burnet Institute.

The Burnet Institute study highlights the disproportionate impact on low- and middle-income countries, particularly in sub-Saharan Africa, and vulnerable communities.

The study's co-author Rowan Martin Huges, Burnet Institute's senior research fellow, said countries heavily reliant on international aid, such as Mozambique, South Africa, Uganda, and Zimbabwe, would suffer the most.

With nearly half of global HIV funding coming from international aid, 54 percent of which is from PEPFAR. Experts warn that without urgent intervention, millions of lives remain at risk. ∎