IAS Statement: Restore Access To All PEPFAR-supported HIV Services Immediately

29 January 2025 (Geneva, Switzerland) – IAS – the International AIDS Society – notes the decision to waive the suspension of “life-saving humanitarian assistance”, including “core life-saving medicine.” This should now ensure that HIV treatment disbursed by the US President's Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR) can continue across all PEPFAR-supported countries.  

The Trump administration froze foreign aid funding, including to PEPFAR and, unexpectedly on 24 January, it imposed a stop-work order on existing operations. Clinic staff were sent home, distribution of ARVs bought with US funds was halted – cutting off HIV treatment for 20.6 million people. On 28 January, new US Secretary of State Marco Rubio issued a temporary waiver of aspects of this freeze. 

“Since its bipartisan creation, PEPFAR has always been synonymous with saving lives and this waiver restores – in some part – that legacy. However, PEPFAR’s continued and uninterrupted support of all HIV treatment and prevention services must be fully restored,” IAS President Beatriz Grinsztejn said. 

“PEPFAR has been and should continue to be an active contributor to changing the trajectory of the HIV epidemic. It is our hope that this waiver remains in place and will be expanded to all HIV services.” 

For now, the emphasis should be on ensuring that, as a matter of urgency, PEPFAR implementers return to work to ensure that access to critical HIV services is not further interrupted and that communities most in need are able to get the care and treatment they need. 

About the International AIDS Society

IAS – the International AIDS Society – convenes, educates and advocates for a world in which HIV no longer presents a threat to public health and individual well-being. After the emergence of HIV and AIDS, concerned scientists created the IAS to bring together experts from across the world and disciplines to promote a concerted HIV response. Today, the IAS and its members unite scientists, policy makers and activists to galvanize the scientific response, build global solidarity and enhance human dignity for all those living with and affected by HIV. The IAS also hosts the world’s most prestigious HIV conferences: the International AIDS Conference, the IAS Conference on HIV Science and the HIV Research for Prevention Conference. 

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