September 12, 2025
This week Global Health Watch covers major developments from a Supreme Court decision stalling foreign aid disbursements (again), to the US House’s fiscal year (FY26) budget drafts, and the Global Fund’s updated report and shifting focus.
Supreme Court Pause in AVAC’s Foreign Aid Case
The AVAC and Global Health Council cases against the US presidential administration on the foreign aid freeze continue to play out in the courts. Tuesday, US Supreme Court Chief Justice John Roberts issued a one-person decision, which granted the Administration a temporary administrative stay (or pause) on the recent District Court ruling. This temporary ruling means the government would not have to spend the congressionally appropriated funds by the September 30th fiscal year deadline despite the District Courts order last week that required them to do so.
IMPLICATIONS: Chief Justice Roberts’ order effectively keeps the Administration’s “pocket rescission” strategy alive by temporarily suspending the District Court’s order. AVAC and its partners are preparing their Supreme Court brief due by Friday to make clear that allowing the Administration to “run out the clock” would not only devastate lifesaving programs but also set a dangerous precedent that erodes democratic oversight of federal spending.
READ:
- Chief Justice Roberts Lets Trump Block Foreign Aid for Now—New York Times
- Trump Asks Supreme Court to Keep Freeze on Expiring Foreign Aid—Bloomberg
- US foreign aid legal showdown heads to the Supreme Court—Devex
US FY26 Budget Proposal Maintains NIH Budget, but Cuts CDC
The US House Labor, Health and Human Services (LHHS) Appropriations Subcommittee released its fiscal year 2026 (FY26) draft spending bill, which allocates $184.5 billion, of which $108 billion is designated for Health and Human Services (HHS). This is approximately 6% less than the current year funding levels, and, notably, the proposal includes steady funding for the National Institutes of Health (NIH) at $48 billion. However, the bill includes deep cuts to the HIV prevention program at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) at 19-20% and eliminates the Title X family planning program.
IMPLICATIONS: While NIH funding is preserved for now in the House bill, deep cuts to CDC, Title X, and key public health infrastructure pose a serious threat to HIV prevention, STI research, and community health programs. The upcoming full committee markup and potential amendments by Democrats will reveal where bipartisan opportunities remain, and where the fight for global health funding must focus next.
READ:
- House appropriators snub Kennedy, include mRNA vaccine funding in spending bill—STAT
- Democrats Press GOP on Cuts to CDC, HHS in House Budget Bill—MSN
Global Fund Results and Shifting Focus
The Global Fund released its 2025 Results Report, which shows increased access to HIV treatment and historic progress on TB and malaria prevention in countries where it invests.
However, the Fund is facing serious funding shortfalls. As foreign aid declines, especially from major donors like the US, the Global Fund on Wednesday said it will prioritize funding “even more to the very poorest countries,” especially those facing conflict, high disease burden, and climate stressors, which have fewer alternative funding options.
IMPLICATIONS: As we’ve been saying for months, gains in HIV, TB, and malaria could stall or reverse without urgent intervention. Prioritizing the poorest is necessary, but cuts could still undermine infrastructure, limit access, and exacerbate inequities globally. There is also a risk that countries dependent on Global Fund grants may face disruptions just when demand for prevention tools is growing and when new options (like long-acting PrEP) need stable funding to scale.
READ:
- Global health group to prioritize poorest amid aid cuts—Reuters
- Global health fund battles Trump’s aid cuts by giving more to poorest nations—The Independent
- Results Report 2025—The Global Fund
SA AIDS 2025 Highlights
The South African AIDS Conference spotlighted resilience across communities amid funding shocks and setback with advocates insisting that their work must intensify. AVAC and partners emphasized that products don’t end epidemics, programs do – and called for urgent, scalable, and people-centered approaches to turn innovation in research and development into options and choices that impact lives. The takeaway: protect prevention, invest in locally led systems, and keep communities at the heart of HIV response and research.
What We’re Reading
- NIH whistleblower details clash over childhood vaccines with Trump administration: “We became inconvenient”—CBS News
- Inside the NIH whistleblower complaints—Politico
- NIH is talking a lot about implementation science. I should be excited, but I’m nervous. Here’s why—Elvin Geng Substack
- PEPFAR Releases the Shortest, Least-Specific Planning Guidance and Budget Letters in Program History—To End A Plague Again Substack
- PEPFAR’s Transition Breeds New Opportunities for HIV Care—Think Global Health
- Devex Newswire Special Edition—Devex
- Can health systems keep pace with HIV prevention’s breakthrough?—Devex
- Effects of Stop-Work orders on HIV testing, treatment and programmes for prevention of vertical transmission in four sub-Saharan African countries—JIAS
- NIH chief sidesteps controversy while other officials court it—Axios
- In April NPR profiled people who couldn’t get their HIV drugs. How are they faring now?—NPR
- CDC Chaos Spurs Demands for HHS Secretary Kennedy to Step Down—JAMA
- Inside the Chaos at the C.D.C.—The New Yorker
- Scientists take on Trump: these researchers are fighting back—Nature
- How RFK Jr.’s misguided science on mRNA vaccines is shaping policy − a vaccine expert examines the false claims—CNN
- Corporate philanthropy surges, led by pharma giants—Devex
- Remembering David Baltimore, a titan who transformed biology and spoke bluntly—Science
- Twists and turns in the race to be SA’s first widely used HIV prevention injection—Spotlight, SA
- Trump administration to help share new HIV drug with impacted nations—Washington Post
- World Health Organization says US CDC needs to be protected—Reuters
- Why the World Turned on NGOs—Financial Times
Resources
- Expanding global health finance: Convening report and agenda for action, Friends of the Global Fight
- HIV Research on Pause: Impacts of US government cuts on HIV R&D, AVAC
- Getting PrEP Rollout Right This Time: Considerations for LEN for PrEP Introduction, AVAC
Join Us September 16-17
AVAC and partners are hosting a 24-hour livestream event with scientists, researchers and advocates from around the world to share insights, answer questions, and inspire action!