IAPAC Condemns USAID HIV and Humanitarian Contract Terminations
Statement by Dr. José M. Zuniga, IAPAC President/CEO
Washington, DC, USA (27 February 2025)
My fellow advocates, health professionals, and humanitarian allies, we are facing an unprecedented assault on global health and humanitarian programs that have saved millions of lives. The Trump administration has unilaterally terminated thousands of USAID contracts, bringing vital health and humanitarian services to a grinding halt. This reckless action includes the termination of contracts that fund PEPFAR-related programs in Kenya, South Africa, and other African countries – programs that have been a lifeline for individuals, families, and entire communities affected by HIV.
These cuts are not just numbers on a balance sheet. They represent the abrupt cessation of care for millions of people, including pregnant women, children, and families living with HIV. The Elizabeth Glaser Pediatric AIDS Foundation, a trusted partner in the fight against pediatric HIV, received termination notices for three of its primary USAID agreements – agreements that had already been approved to resume limited operations under the US State Department’s PEPFAR waiver. These programs were actively supporting more than 350,000 people on HIV treatment, including nearly 10,000 children. Now, these individuals are at risk of treatment disruption, disease progression, and, tragically, death.
The termination of USAID contracts also extends to critical funding for UNAIDS, the joint United Nations program coordinating our collective response to end the HIV epidemic. By cutting off this support, the Trump administration is deliberately dismantling the infrastructure that has allowed us to make historic progress in fighting HIV worldwide. These cuts also compound the already devastating funding losses for the WHO, weakening global health security at a time when coordinated action is essential, and raise serious concerns about the upcoming replenishment round for the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis, and Malaria, which relies on strong U.S. leadership to sustain lifesaving programs. Implementing partners, NGOs, and community-based organizations that provide frontline services are being forced to shutter programs and lay off staff – devastating local health systems that took decades to build.
These cuts are not only affecting care and treatment but are also halting groundbreaking HIV prevention research. The termination of USAID contracts has resulted in the immediate cessation of several clinical trials, including Matrix and MOSAIC, which were evaluating new prevention options for women and girls – the populations that bear the highest burden of new HIV infections in many regions. By shutting down these trials, the Trump administration is deliberately obstructing scientific progress that could have delivered the next generation of HIV prevention tools. This is not just a funding issue – it is an ideological attack on evidence-based public health strategies.
Moreover, these actions further marginalize key populations most vulnerable to HIV. We know that stigma and discrimination remain among the greatest barriers to HIV prevention, treatment, and care. Now, the Trump administration is not just ignoring these barriers, but it is actively reinforcing them. The cancellation of USAID contracts for programs that have offered a lifeline to key populations sends a clear message: the lives of those most vulnerable to HIV do not matter. We reject that message outright. Every life matters. Every person deserves dignity, care, and the right to health.
Make no mistake – this is not an accident. These actions are deliberate and ideological, advancing an agenda designed to dismantle programs that serve the most vulnerable populations globally. We are witnessing an erosion of human rights, including the systematic defunding of global health programs, the rollback of protections for marginalized communities, and the weaponization of public policy against the most vulnerable – all of which serve as the foundation for the Trump administration’s latest actions. This is a targeted attack on global public health, an assault on human dignity, and an affront to the bipartisan commitment that has defined U.S. leadership in global health for over two decades.
But these horrific actions can and must be corrected. The funds that USAID is now withholding were legally appropriated by the U.S. Congress, and in relation to PEPFAR in a bipartisan fashion, including the support of former U.S. Sen. Marco Rubio, now US Secretary of State. If the Trump administration refuses to reverse course in dismantling USAID, PEPFAR, and other health and humanitarian agencies, the legislative branch has the authority – and the moral obligation – to intervene. We call upon every member of the U.S. Congress to act immediately to reverse these cuts, restore funding to critical health and humanitarian programs, and hold those responsible for these cancelled contracts accountable for the human lives they are putting in jeopardy.
To our members, colleagues, and allies in the United States, I urge you to contact your Congress members today. Demand action. Call the U.S. Capitol switchboard at (202) 224-3121 to contact your representatives and tell them that these contract terminations must be reversed. I do not exaggerate when I say that millions of lives, including children’s lives, depend on swift Congressional action.
To our global members, I say this: Do not despair. Keep the faith. Document these atrocities. The world must know what is happening. We will not allow history to be rewritten with misinformation or political doublespeak. We will tell the truth. And we are certain that the American people – who have always stood for compassion and justice – will soundly reject this brazen abandonment of our longstanding commitment to humanitarian assistance.
To those individuals, institutions, and corporations playing the “quiet game,” hoping to stay on the sidelines while lives hang in the balance – now is not the time for silence. Silence equals death. We have seen this before, and we will not allow history to repeat itself. This is not just a political issue; it is a moral imperative. Every institution that has benefited from global health funding, every corporation that claims to champion social responsibility, every leader who has stood on a stage and pledged commitment to ending HIV – your voice is needed now more than ever. History will remember where you stood in this moment. Will you stand for justice and human life, or will you be complicit through inaction? The time for neutrality is over. Speak up. Fight back. Do not relent. Countless lives depend on our actions today and into the future.
My friends and colleagues in the struggle, we must stand together. We must act now with every tool in our collective toolbox. And we must ensure that those responsible for this betrayal of global health and human rights are held to account. We will not be silent.
IAPAC is a 40-year-old professional medical association representing more then 30,000 clinician-members committed to ending AIDS as a public health threat by 2030.
