Promise of Victory Over H.I.V. Fades as U.S. Withdraws Support; The New York Times, June 25, 2025

Stephanie Nolen , The New York Times; Promise of Victory Over H.I.V. Fades as U.S. Withdraws Support

"This was supposed to be a breakthrough year in the 44-year-long struggle against H.I.V.

Decades of research and investment produced new approaches to vaccines that were going into their first significant clinical trials.

The hunt for a cure was homing in on key mechanisms to block the virus, which can lurk dormant and near-untraceable in the body for years.

Most critically, a breakthrough preventive drug, lenacapavir, a twice-yearly injection that offers total protection from H.I.V., was to be rapidly rolled out across eastern and southern Africa. The main target: young women. About 300,000 of them were newly infected with the virus last year — half of all new infections worldwide.

Every one of these plans has been derailed by the Trump administration’s slashing of foreign assistance."