The consequences of mother-to-child transmission of the virus could be enormous, a new study suggests. But the US has fired experts working to solve the problem.
The Trump administration has fired the few remaining health officials who oversaw care for the world's most vulnerable populations: more than 500,000 children and more than 600,000 pregnant women with HIV in low-income countries.
Expert groups that oversaw programs to prevent mothers from transmitting HIV to newborns and to provide treatment to infected children were eliminated last week in a chaotic reorganization of the Department of Health and Human Services.
Some of the consequences of the layoffs are only now becoming apparent.
While it was known that some staff working on HIV prevention in other countries had been fired, The New York Times has learned that all such experts are now laid off or awaiting transfer to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the State Department and the U.S. Agency for International Development.
These maternal health programs continue to be funded by the President's Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR). But without staff to manage the initiatives or distribute the money, it is unclear how the work will continue.
The Department of Health and Human Services did not respond to a request for comment.
“We hope that this is not a sign that treating mothers and babies no longer matters in PEPFAR and that this is a mistake that can be corrected,” said a federal health official who spoke on condition of anonymity because of fear of retaliation.
The stakes are high. Already, every seven minutes in sub-Saharan Africa, a child under the age of 15 dies of AIDS.
