The UNAIDS annual report warns that recent sharp cuts in funding for HIV/AIDS programs, particularly from the U.S., could reverse decades of progress. Winnie Byanyima cautions that failure to address funding gaps could lead to six million new infections and four million additional AIDS-related deaths over the next four years. The report highlights that South Africa has made significant strides in treating HIV, yet is vulnerable due to reliance on external funding. South African Health Minister Aaron Motsoaledi labels U.S. cuts as a wake-up call for global health dependence.
"If the world doesn't plug this hole, we estimate that an additional six million people will be newly infected in the next four years. We could have four million additional AIDS-related deaths."
"The sudden withdrawal of the single biggest HIV donor is putting this progress at risk," Byanyima said during a press briefing in Johannesburg.
"This type of relationship where we depend on one country, and when that country is in some type of negative mood, the whole world collapses - yes, it's scary," he said.
"Since the start of the epidemic, UNAIDS says 26.9 million lives have been saved through treatment efforts, many of them in sub-Saharan Africa, the region most affected by the virus."
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