Global fight against HIV is at risk

Will the United States remain committed to a landmark health program it started 20 years ago that saved more than 25 million lives around the world? For a younger generation of physicians, nurses, and researchers today, the depth of despair wrought by the HIV/AIDS epidemic at that time is almost unimaginable. Even more profoundly, for countries in Africa, the epidemic presented an existential threat. Without access to antiretroviral therapy or efficacious prevention tools, new infections continued unfettered, and people with HIV/ AIDS faced near-certain death. Yet, somehow out of this anguish came a ray of hope. In 2003, President George W. Bush announced the launch of the President's Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR), committing billions of dollars to fight the epidemic in the poorest countries around the world. The initiative has been a shining example of global collaboration in the face of adversity. Yet, as of this September, the US Congress has yet to reauthorize PEPFAR. The Biden administration, individuals from both sides of the political divide, and former President Bush himself have urged Congress to support PEPFAR's lifesaving work. The scientific and public health communities must do the same before it is too late.