In 2003, President George W. Bush launched a program called The President’s Emergency Plan For AIDS Relief (PEPFAR), which has become one of the most successful foreign aid programs in United States history. According to the State Department, as of September 30, 2023, PEPFAR has saved 25 million lives and enabled 5.5 million babies to be born HIV-free.

Shortly after taking office in January 2025, the Trump administration halted PEPFAR as part of its cost-cutting measures, taking its computer systems offline and stopping most other USAID funding. The impact across sub-Saharan Africa and Asia was immediate. Since most healthcare missionaries from the U.S. are members of CMDA, we quickly began hearing stories from the frontlines regarding programs and even hospitals being shut down due to the cessation of funding. On January 28, the Trump administration granted a waiver for essential medicine and medical services, temporarily restoring a number of the services that had been suspended. Despite the waiver, we have heard heartbreaking stories of significant reduction and cancellation of HIV, malaria and TB programs at mission hospitals.

Here at CMDA, we’ve made every effort to contact the State Department office overseeing PEPFAR and related funding to communicate the urgent need to fully restore this funding as quickly as possible. We are also monitoring hearings and ongoing government efforts to restore this critical funding. We will continue to advocate for the vulnerable impacted by this loss of funding until it is completely restored. Please watch for more updates on this critical topic through The Point blog.