893 - “On Going Backwards”: A New HIV/AIDS Epidemic?

May 14, 2025

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About this episode:

In 2003, George W. Bush’s President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR) was the largest commitment to a single disease in U.S. history. Renewed under every subsequent presidency since, PEPFAR has saved more than 25 million lives and prevented some 5 million perinatal infections globally. But now, policy changes that effectively end PEPFAR have the potential to completely reverse course and the world could see HIV/AIDS infections on par with a time even before effective antivirals existed. In this episode: Dr. Chris Beyrer talks about his recent Lancet essay, “On Going Backwards,” why any retreat now will make it harder to regain lost ground, and how this policy change has the potential to impact millions of lives.

Guest:

Dr. Chris Beyrer is the past president of the International AIDS Society and an expert in global health and human rights.

Host:

Stephanie Desmon, MA, is a former journalist, author, and the director of public relations and communications for the Johns Hopkins Center for Communication Programs at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health.

Show links and related content:

On Going Backwards—The Lancet (Perspectives)
By executive order: The likely deadly consequences associated with a 90-day pause in PEPFAR funding—Journal of the International AIDS Society

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