"A hundred researchers, clinicians and other experts on HIV from across Africa and beyond were there to discuss big plans the development of an innovative vaccine on the continent that could prevent the disease, which continues to infect and kill people disproportionately in sub-Saharan Africa. And they had big money to do it. This group, called the BRILLIANT Consortium, had landed a $45 million grant from the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) in 2023."
"But just as the meeting was about to wrap up, the mood darkened. A new executive order signed by President Trump on the day of his inauguration, Jan. 20, 2025, had frozen all foreign aid pending a review. Soon, DOGE would begin its decimation of USAID cutting programs, interrupting funding streams, letting people go, and generally sowing uncertainty within an agency that, for more than six decades, had provided global humanitarian aid and development assistance."
A hundred researchers, clinicians and experts on HIV gathered in Zanzibar to plan development of an innovative vaccine aimed at preventing HIV infections that disproportionately affect sub-Saharan Africa. The BRILLIANT Consortium, composed of African scientists, secured a $45 million USAID grant in 2023 to run continent-based trials and build capacity. The consortium's first year had been mostly virtual, and participants expressed high excitement about launching vaccine trials. On Jan. 20, 2025, a new executive order froze all foreign aid pending review. The freeze and subsequent USAID cuts disrupted funding streams and threatened the planned African-led vaccine trials.
Read at www.npr.org
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