Funding cuts could lead to an added 2,000 new HIV infections each day, Winnie Byanyima warns.

The United States has historically been the world's largest donor of humanitarian assistance, but President Donald Trump has slashed international aid since returning to the White House two months ago.

The sudden halt to US foreign aid funding has been "devastating", the UNAIDS chief said on Monday, warning that without more funding, millions more will die and the global AIDS pandemic will resurge.

The HIV pandemic officially began in 1981, when the first cases of AIDS were reported in the United States. The pandemic has been severe, affecting millions globally. According to UNAIDs data, by 2023, approximately 42.3 million people died from HIV-related causes.

There could be 2,000 new HIV infections a day across the world and a ten-fold increase in related deaths if funding frozen by the United States is not restored or replaced, the United Nations AIDS agency said on Monday.

Daily new HIV infections around the world could almost double without the aid provided by the United States, the UN programme for combatting HIV and AIDS (UNAIDS), said in Geneva on Monday. Executive director Winnie Byanyima expressed understanding for the desire of the United States to cut back its funding for aid projects around the world,

The world risks returning to the worst days of the global AIDS pandemic following the sudden halt to US foreign aid funding, the UN's top AIDS official said Monday, warning

The United Nations AIDS agency has warned that the number of new HIV infections worldwide could surge to 2,000 per day, with AIDS-related deaths potentially increasing tenfold, if the halted US funding is not reinstated or replaced.