World AIDS Day is a time to remember all those who have died from the HIV virus, and a time to recognize and reaffirm our nation’s historic and heroic lifesaving efforts to end the preventable and treatable disease.
Nearly a quarter century ago, our country, with broad bipartisan support, launched the most aggressive global HIV/AIDS program in the world: PEPFAR. Since then, PEPFAR has been credited with saving more than 26 million lives in some of the world’s poorest countries, primarily in sub-Saharan Africa, with the highest HIV/AIDS rates.
PEPFAR has also advanced American interests around the world, demonstrating the values and ideals our country represents while combating instability and preventing failed states.
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During the first administration, as an appointee under President Donald Trump, I served at the U.S. Department of State as a Congressional Liaison Officer at PEPFAR. In 2018, in coordination and consultation with the White House, I helped secure the program’s reauthorization through the Republican-controlled House and Senate, and ultimately signed into law by President Trump.
At that time, PEPFAR also adopted a more local approach on the ground, which led to greater efficiencies, allowing American taxpayers to go even further in saving lives. This local implementation was praised by Project 2025 and pushed as a model for future global development efforts and programs.
The past year has been both cause for concern and reason for celebration. An initial pause and review of foreign assistance was quickly adjusted to ensure that PEPFAR could continue its activities, but this combined with the dismantling of USAID, one of PEPFAR’s implementing agencies, raised concerns and disrupted services on the ground and damaged PEPFAR’s ability to fully operate. WAD report here)
But under President Trump, Secretary Rubio, and senior State Department official Jeremy Lewin, and in coordination with Gilead Sciences, a private sector American biopharmaceutical company, our country now provides twice a year a new miracle drug that both prevents the spread of HIV/AIDS and acts as an antiretroviral drug that treats those infected.
It is a huge moment in the fight against global HIV/AIDS, which now gives us the opportunity to end AIDS by 2030. President Trump has even stated his goal of ending mother-to-child transmission of HIV/AIDS within the next three years.
PEPFAR is just one part of the holy trinity of global health, which also includes the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, TB and Malaria, and the United Nations Joint Program for HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS). Last week, Jeremey Lewin announced a $4.6 billion commitment from the US to the Global Fund – a commitment that will be leveraged on a 2-1 basis with other countries and donors.
In his comments, Jeremy stated, “The best days of American healthcare leadership still lie ahead. The State Department recently unveiled our new ‘American First’ global health strategy, which reaffirms our commitment to global health but also implements much-needed reforms.”
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But the third branch of the holy trinity, UNAIDS, a small but critical organization that plays a crucial role in ensuring accountability, coordination and oversight in collecting important data, still needs full funding. Of the billions committed to saving lives, UNAIDS needs $50 million to maintain critical operations and ensure that every US dollar (and other domestic resources) is invested as effectively and efficiently as possible. While this funding is small by comparison, it is essential to ensure that all other efforts are maximized, and I urge Congress and the Administration to urgently defund it.
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Progress is now being made in the fight against global AIDS in new and novel ways, with the private sector also playing a leading role. And more can be done. President Trump has already been the first president to call for an end to AIDS in America and beyond in his 2019 State of the Union address. And when President Trump speaks, the world listens. At the upcoming U.S.-hosted World Cup and Olympic Games, our country can champion the message of ending AIDS, an opportunity that President Trump has now made possible and can trumpet to the world.
The rhetoric must match reality, and if this administration can make the commitments that will result in millions of lives being saved, then the Nobel Peace Prize will be more than justified; it will be just a footnote to President Trump’s living legacy.
