A political storm is brewing in Washington with direct consequences for Kenyan families. U.S. lawmakers have issued stark warnings that the Trump administration's cuts to global health funding and symbolic policy shifts threaten to unravel decades of hard-won progress against HIV/AIDS.

For Kenya, this is not a distant political debate. It is a matter of life and death. The cuts directly imperil the U.S. President's Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR), a program that has been the cornerstone of Kenya's HIV response and has saved an estimated 26 million lives globally since 2003.

The latest flashpoint is a State Department directive ending the public commemoration of World AIDS Day, a tradition held since 1988 to raise awareness and honour those lost to the disease. Senator Jeanne Shaheen condemned the move, emphasizing that such decisions have global repercussions. "Diseases have no borders," she warned. "Cutting prevention dollars overseas will raise the death toll at home."

A Lifeline Under Threat

The impact of the funding disruptions is already being felt on the ground in Kenya. A report from Physicians for Human Rights detailed clinics closing, disruptions to drug supplies, and health workers going unpaid. The cuts have forced a reduction in HIV drug refills from a three-month supply to just one month, creating uncertainty for patients. In Nairobi, drop-in centres crucial for prevention and outreach have been shuttered.

This pullback jeopardizes a fragile but significant success story. Kenya's progress against HIV has been substantial, but the fight is far from over.

• People Living with HIV: Approximately 1.33 million people were living with HIV in Kenya in 2025.
• New Infections: The country recorded about 20,000 new HIV infections in 2025, with Nairobi County having the highest number of new cases.
• PEPFAR's Role: The program has been pivotal, supporting an estimated 41,500 health workers in Kenya and providing HIV prevention for 1.4 million people through initiatives like the Fahari ya Jamii program.

The Kenyan government would need to find an estimated KES 66.9 billion (approx. $518 million) to cover the funding gap left by the U.S. cuts, a staggering sum for the national health budget.

The decision to halt World AIDS Day commemorations is seen by critics not just as a symbolic retreat, but as part of a broader, dangerous neglect of global health. As lawmakers in Washington fight to reverse these policies, millions of Kenyans wait, hoping a lifeline that has sustained their communities for two decades is not severed for good.