Zimbabwe has become one of the first countries to roll out lenacapavir, a twice-yearly HIV prevention drug with near-total protection shown in clinical trials. But SBS News reports with community HIV response systems heavily dependent on foreign assistance now being cut, UNAIDS warns the funding gap could lead to 1.4 million new annual infections by 2030, casting doubt on whether scientific promise can translate into broad impact.

A new study published in PLOS Medicine finds that the loss of USAID support alone could generate approximately $7.5 billion in additional tuberculosis-related costs for households in low- and middle-income countries, with four million more families pushed into financial catastrophe.

The Trump administration's defunding of USAID halted over 40 drug distribution campaigns in 2025, cutting off treatment for neglected tropical diseases — including river blindness and elephantiasis — and leaving more than 140 million people without access to critical medication.

New research from the SHARP Project finds that access to HIV treatment in Kenya's Mandera County has fallen to near-collapse levels — averaging just 1.5% availability — while stockouts of maternal medicines have surged across two other counties. It’s a crisis that researchers are attributing directly to the closure of USAID, Health Policy Watch reports.

U.S. foreign aid cuts have dealt a severe blow to hepatitis care across Africa, forcing clinics to close, laying off more than 1,500 testing aides in Malawi alone, and disrupting medication supplies for the 72.5 million people on the continent living with hepatitis B and C, El País reports.

According to NPR, the Trump administration's foreign aid freeze threatened to derail a cutting-edge HIV vaccine trial in South Africa — one of the countries hardest hit by the disease — before local researchers devised a new path forward.

Loss of U.S. aid has caused community care interruptions that have increased the risk of drug-resistant tuberculosis in India, according to Think Global Health. Without donor-funded community programs, patients are far more likely to fall through the cracks, even when medicines are technically free, putting years of progress in reducing stigma and improving treatment completion at risk.

According to Forbes, the dismantling of USAID and the U.S. exit from the World Health Organization have left a significant leadership and funding gap in global health initiatives. Without renewed American engagement or alternative governance models, weakened health systems and unmet needs in vulnerable countries could widen, forcing a rethinking of how global health priorities are funded and led.

Health Policy Watch reports that one year after the U.S. government paused foreign aid and cut global health projects, gaps continue to emerge in services such as HIV treatment. These changes were a major shock to global health financing and governance, with models estimating significant deaths and disease spread associated with the funding interruptions.

A pan-African HIV vaccine trial originally set to begin with substantial U.S. funding was thrown into jeopardy last year when foreign aid was abruptly cut. According to NPR, even amid those setbacks and a reduced scope, the downsized trial has now started enrolling participants, offering cautious hope that advancing vaccine research.

Essential health efforts have been hobbled in many low- and middle-income nations, leaving care gaps and forcing governments to explore new funding strategies, reports Think Global Health.

After U.S. aid cuts disrupted malaria treatment in northern Cameroon, clinics ran short of lifesaving drugs and unpaid health workers struggled to fill the gaps. The New York Times investigates how quickly progress against malaria can unravel when supply chains and frontline care are broken.

NPR reports that years of progress against neglected tropical diseases — driven largely by U.S.-backed mass drug distribution and surveillance programs — are now at risk as funding cuts disrupt treatment campaigns.

ProPublica traces how abrupt U.S. policy decisions, including aid freezes and program terminations, triggered food shortages across fragile regions, compounding conflict and displacement. Internal documents and interviews show the crisis was widely anticipated but allowed to unfold anyway.

ProPublica reveals how U.S. officials marked major aid cuts even as warnings mounted about disease outbreaks. In the weeks that followed, cholera spread in vulnerable communities, underscoring the deadly consequences of dismantling public health systems mid-crisis.

The Guardian reports that U.S. funding cuts have shuttered HIV clinics, disrupted PrEP and ART supply chains, and ended community-led outreach across multiple countries. Health workers warn that prevention gains made over two decades are collapsing, with global agencies now projecting a surge in new infections and treatment interruptions that could undo years of progress toward epidemic control.