Devex: Is PEPFAR a Trump budget winner? Not so fast…
“Global health leaders in the United States are urging development advocates to think twice before declaring international HIV and AIDS programs safe from President Donald Trump’s pursuit of sweeping foreign affairs budget cuts. … The relevant budget text says the president’s spending plan — which is expected to arrive with greater detail sometime in May — ‘provides sufficient resources to maintain current commitments and all current patient levels on HIV/AIDS treatment under [PEPFAR].’ … U.S. global health experts say the budget language is too vague to warrant too much optimism, and the integration of global health and development programs means that cuts in other areas could still harm efforts to achieve an AIDS-free generation. ‘On the one hand, the skinny budget — which does not have a lot of detail — does call out PEPFAR, and I think that’s an intentional signal, which is good for PEPFAR,’ said Jen Kates, vice president and director of global health & HIV policy at the Kaiser Family Foundation. ‘On the other hand it is not specific about any funding amount,’ she added…” (Igoe, 3/24).