Politics / President Trump US Halts HIV Drugs in Foreign Countries White House is putting a 22-year-old AIDS relief program on hold By John Johnson, Newser Staff Posted Jan 28, 2025 3:55 PM CST Copied Sixteen-year-old Idah Musimbi, who contracted HIV at birth and lives in Nairobi's Kawangware slum, takes her PEPFAR-supplied anti-retrovirals pills in this 2023 file photo. (AP Photo/Brian Inganga) One of President Trump's new initiatives has brought an AIDS relief program to an abrupt halt overseas after 22 years, reports the New York Times. The program: Called PEPFAR, or the President's Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief, it was started by George W. Bush in 2003. A State Department fact sheet cited by NPR credits it with saving 26 million lives since it began. However, it's being shuttered at least temporarily as part of a broad review of federal aid that began last week. story continues belowBusiness Sneakers CEOs ACTUALLY Swear By [Shop Now]Wolf & ShepherdShop NowUndoHow To Wear Cowboy Boots and Jeans for MenAriat Learn MoreUndoPeople in Columbus are Loving Martha Stewart's Meal KitMartha Stewart & Marley Spoon Undo White House: The US "is no longer going to blindly dole out money with no return for the American people," State Department spokesperson Tammy Bruce said in a statement, calling the freeze "a moral imperative." PEPFAR has a $6.5 billion annual budget, and it's funded entirely by the US, reports CBS News. It was uncertain whether the program would resume after a review. Immediate stop: A big part of the program's mission is distributing HIV medications to patients, and the US ordered an immediate stop to the practice—even if the drugs already have been purchased and are in clinics, per the Times. The story continues: "Appointments are being canceled, and patients are being turned away from clinics, according to people with knowledge of the situation who feared retribution if they spoke publicly. Many people with H.I.V. are facing abrupt interruptions to their treatment." Abortion angle: Republican lawmakers have criticized the program and accused it of providing abortions. Earlier this month, Reuters reported that four nurses in Mozambique had performed a total of 21 abortions since 2021. "This violation means that the future of the PEPFAR program is certainly in jeopardy," said GOP Sen. Jim Risch, chair of the Foreign Relations Committee, at the time. "I will not support one dollar of American money going towards abortion anywhere in the world, and I will do all I can to ensure this never happens again." (More President Trump stories.) Report an error