The President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief was already in the midst of a transition before U.S. President Donald Trump took office. Countries that had relied on PEPFAR for decades had been told to have plans ready by the end of last year to take over the bulk of their domestic response by 2030.
Research was going to be key to making that transition. That meant studies that would help governments find ways to more effectively — and affordably — manage the HIV response. Research was underway on everything from how to improve the delivery of health services to figuring out how to make sure everyone who needed them could access an expanding suite of HIV prevention tools.
Those efforts are now in disarray after the Trump administration froze foreign aid and then abruptly terminated 5,200 USAID contracts. The U.S. Agency for International Development delivered the majority of PEPFAR assistance. But it also helped fund research meant to contribute in a variety of ways to greater domestic oversight of the HIV response.
About the author
Andrew Green@_andrew_green
Andrew Green, a 2025 Alicia Patterson Fellow, works as a contributing reporter for Devex from Berlin.
