Hundreds of leading HIV doctors, researchers, and public health experts have condemned the Trump administration’s sweeping cuts to international aid, warning that the move is causing “catastrophic harm” to the global fight against HIV/AIDS.

In an open letter addressed to US Secretary of State Marco Rubio, the experts urged the administration to reverse its decision, cautioning that the dismantling of US-supported AIDS programs could lead to the deaths of six million people over the next four years.

Severe Impact on Global Health Efforts

The United States has long been the world’s largest donor of humanitarian assistance, but President Donald Trump has significantly reduced international aid spending since returning to the White House less than two months ago.

On Monday, Rubio announced that 83 percent of all contracts under USAID, the US government’s humanitarian agency, had been terminated. Among the hardest-hit programs is PEPFAR, the President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief, which has been credited with saving an estimated 26 million lives over the past two decades.

The letter, dated Thursday, warned:

“Unless reversed, the dismantling of the US-supported AIDS response will cause the deaths of an estimated six million people in the next four years, decades of progress will be reversed, and the world will face growing HIV epidemics across the globe.”

Medical Trials Halted, Research Institutions Gutted

The funding cuts have also disrupted medical trials worldwide, leaving HIV study participants stranded and putting ongoing research at risk.

Academic institutions have also been deeply affected. On Thursday, Johns Hopkins University—one of the world’s leading medical research centers—announced it would be laying off over 2,000 employees due to the loss of USAID funding.

“Even if US courts eventually find these decisions illegal, the human suffering and loss of lives happening now cannot be reversed,” the letter stated.

Global Outrage and Protests

Among the signatories of the letter is French scientist Françoise Barré-Sinoussi, who won a 1983 Nobel Prize for discovering HIV.

The controversy has sparked nationwide protests in the United States, with demonstrators calling for policymakers to “Stand Up for Science”. The letter’s release coincided with the Conference on Retroviruses and Opportunistic Infections, held in San Francisco, where researchers expressed deep concerns over the future of global AIDS response.

The Trump administration has defended the funding cuts, stating they are necessary for budget reductions. Meanwhile, Trump’s billionaire advisor Elon Musk has boasted about dismantling USAID, claiming it was put “through the woodchipper.”

With experts warning of dire humanitarian consequences, the pressure is mounting on the US government to reconsider its stance—before decades of progress in the fight against HIV/AIDS are undone.