SAVE HIV FUNDING RESPONDS TO STATE DEPARTMENT COMMENTS AMID ZAMBIA HEALTH FUNDING CONTROVERSY
WASHINGTON, D.C – TUESDAY, MARCH 31 – Save HIV Funding is responding to newly reported comments from the U.S. State Department dismissing concerns raised by nearly 100 global health and faith organizations over a potential plan to condition HIV and medical assistance to Zambia on a critical minerals agreement.
In reporting from POLITICO, a State Department spokesperson characterized the coalition of organizations, which includes leading global health experts and frontline providers, as politically motivated, while declining to directly address whether HIV funding is being used as leverage in ongoing negotiations.
The response comes after advocates urged Marco Rubio to publicly clarify that U.S. global health assistance, including lifesaving HIV treatment and prevention programs, will not be tied to unrelated geopolitical or trade objectives.
This comes as new reporting in New York Magazine highlights growing concern among public health experts that recent funding cuts and policy shifts — both globally and within the United States — could reverse decades of progress in the fight against HIV, including warnings of a potential rise in new infections for the first time in decades.
Save HIV Funding issued the following statement:
“Funding for humanitarian purposes and ending the HIV epidemic should never be conditioned on unrelated concessions around trade deals. This unprofessional response undermines actual expertise and creates distrust among the people the program is meant to help. Lifesaving HIV treatment is not a bargaining chip, and dismissing nearly 100 global health and faith organizations raising legitimate concerns only deepens the urgency of this moment. Save HIV Funding urges U.S. leadership to provide immediate clarity and reaffirm that global HIV programs will not be politicized or used as leverage in unrelated negotiations. The integrity of decades of progress, and millions of lives, depends on it.”
Save HIV Funding is a national coalition working across sectors and party lines to protect and expand access to HIV prevention, treatment, and care. The coalition has been at the forefront of elevating the importance of sustained federal investment in HIV programs — both domestically and globally — and continues to mobilize rapid-response efforts as policy decisions threaten access to lifesaving care.
As conversations around foreign assistance and public health funding intensify, Save HIV Funding is calling for transparency, accountability, and a renewed commitment to protecting HIV infrastructure at a moment when experts warn progress could begin to reverse.
HIV FUNDING FAST FACTS
To support reporters covering the urgent policy landscape, the campaign is releasing the following Fact Sheet outlining the impact, scale, and human stakes of ongoing funding threats:
- Global HIV/AIDS Funding Under Attack: Advocates successfully turned back $400M in proposed cuts to PEPFAR as part of a larger attack on international assistance programs in the recissions bill passed by Congress in July 2025. Despite this success, changes implemented unilaterally by the Administration have severely compromised the program, including the elimination of HIV prevention funding for several key populations and replacing existing transparent and highly effective country and regional operations planning with clandestine bilateral contractual negotiations that undermine lifesaving implementation strategies for people living with HIV and seek to extract trade, data, and other unrelated concessions from member countries.
- AIDS Drug Assistance Programs in Crisis: After years of flat federal funding in the midst of rapidly increasing healthcare costs, ten state ADAP programs recently reported deficits in the current fiscal year, and 19 ADAPs forecast deficits for the upcoming year– threatening medication access for thousands of Americans.
- Federal HIV programs have more than 35 years of bipartisan support: In 2003, President George W. Bush created PEPFAR (the President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief), which has saved 25 million lives worldwide. Domestically, Bush signed reauthorizations of the Ryan White CARE Act, expanding federal support for HIV care. Protecting HIV funding has historically been a bipartisan commitment to public health and stability.
- Federal HIV programs are cost-effective: Every $1 invested in HIV prevention saves the health care system $3 to $7 in future treatment costs. Cuts would increase long-term spending.
- Medicaid is the largest source of coverage for people with HIV in the U.S., covering roughly 40% of people living with HIV. Medicaid expansion has been associated with a 33% increase in PrEP prescriptions. Cuts to HIV funding would have ripple effects across the entire Medicaid system, limiting access to care for millions of low-income Americans.
- HIV care is part of the U.S. health care system: Federal HIV funding supports access to preventive care, primary care, mental health services, housing, and medications. Cutting these funds would destabilize programs millions of Americans depend on — including those living with chronic conditions, low-income families, and uninsured people.
- Over 1.2 million Americans are living with HIV, and over 500,000 rely on federal programs like the Ryan White HIV/AIDS Program for lifesaving medication and care.
- HIV prevention funding protects everyone: The federal government funds access to PrEP (pre-exposure prophylaxis), a daily medication that reduces the vulnerability of HIV by 99%. Rolling back funding would increase new HIV cases and long-term costs to the health care system.
- HIV funding is about more than one disease: These programs create a blueprint for coordinated, federally funded responses to health crises — from the opioid epidemic to COVID-19. Gutting HIV funding would weaken America’s preparedness for future public health threats.
- HIV funding protects vulnerable communities: Black and Latine communities account for more than 65% of new HIV diagnoses. Protecting these funds is about protecting racial and health equity.
Additional State-by-State Resources & Fact Sheets
Press Contact:
Tony Morrison
About the Save HIV Funding Campaign:
Launched in 2023 by PrEP4All, AVAC, and the HIV Medicine Association in partnership with the Federal AIDS Policy Partnership, the Save HIV Funding Campaign is a national coalition supported by more than 150 organizations representing advocates, healthcare providers, researchers, and community leaders. The campaign was formed in response to proposed Congressional cuts to federal HIV programs and has since helped avert more than $3.5 billion in domestic HIV funding cuts. Through coordinated advocacy, media engagement, and community mobilization, Save HIV Funding works to place the future of HIV prevention and care squarely in the national conversation. The campaign convenes community health providers and advocates across the country, organizes bipartisan congressional engagement, and mobilizes public voices to ensure that lifesaving HIV programs remain strong, accessible, and fully funded for the communities that rely on them.
