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.

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.