The head of the UN AIDS agency UNAIDS, Winnie Bianima, said the sudden withdrawal of co-funding for HIV/AIDS programs by the new US government was “devastating” to efforts to stop HIV and would cost many lives of the world’s most vulnerable people. But she also offered an “amazing deal” for President Trump, which she said could lead to “the end of AIDS.”
At a press conference in Geneva, UNAIDS executive director Winnie Bianima said the deal would include Trump’s authorization for U.S. company Gilead to manufacture and license its “magic” prevention drug lenacapavir worldwide to millions of people who need it.
Lenacapavir, sold under the name Sunlenca, has been shown by injection twice a year to completely prevent HIV infection in women and works almost as well in men.
“President Trump loves a deal,” said Winnie Bianima, acknowledging that it was U.S. President George W. Bush Jr. who first began paying for the widespread distribution of HIV drugs more than two decades ago. – “It could be President Trump, another Republican president, who will lead the prevention revolution to end AIDS,” she said.
Winnie Bianima added that the deal would not only profit Gilead and create jobs for Americans, but also save millions of lives in poorer countries.
Last year, American money accounted for about 35% of UNAIDS’ core budget, but it is unclear whether that amount will be restored next year. The UNAIDS executive director says the agency is in talks with the U.S. government, but is also preparing for a worst-case scenario in which there is no funding from the United States.
Bianima believes it is unlikely that other donors will be able to fill the vacuum, adding that European donors have told the agency they will reduce their support to redirect funds to defense and other priorities. If support for HIV efforts is not restored, Bianima said, there could be more than 6.3 million additional deaths in the next four years and an additional 2,000 people a day infected.