USAID Cuts Leave Nigerian HIV Patients Without Medication

A friend recently visited Sokoto State in Northwest Nigeria. His work on HIV prevention brought him into a conversation with a 19-year-old woman who is HIV positive. She had been receiving anti-retroviral drugs through PEPFAR (the President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief), which was established in 2003 under President George W. Bush. But now, she only had a one-week supply left. She was frantic.

This young woman was infected with HIV by her boyfriend. Once infected, she was shunned by her family and resigned to commercial sex work to survive. She received medical treatment and emotional support from an HIV adherence counselor whose salary was also funded by PEPFAR. The counselor was still working even though his salary had been stopped.

The woman implored my friend for help to access more drugs and also wanted to pass on a message: “Please tell Mr. Trump what it means to us here in Sokoto to have these drugs disappear.” There are no other sources currently available to access these life-saving drugs.

The thoughtless manner in which the Republican administration has shut down USAID means that people like this young woman—and countless others—will likely die. While we can all agree that the US government can be more efficient, the callousness and glee with which DOGE and complacent Republicans have allowed this to happen is simply disgraceful.

As told by DKT International.