President Obama recently unveiled his Global Health Initiative Plan on Tuesday, May 5. The plan allocates $63 billion for global health programs over the next six years, including HIV/AIDS programs. The plan proposes a cut to annual HIV/AIDS funding by extending the initial proposal from five years to six years without increase spending accordingly.

This signifies a lack of treatments for newly diagnosed HIV patients, while prevention programs, such as needle exchange in Eastern Europe, will be stopped.

Prior to the economic crisis last fall, Congress had approved $48 billion in AIDS, tuberculosis, and malaria spending over five years. President Obama’s new Global Health Initiative plan allows for $51 billion to be spent on these three diseases over the next six years, which is a $3 billion increase from the initial plan. The program has also been extended by one year, meaning that annual spending on AIDS, tuberculosis, and malaria must decrease.

Specifically, the President’s plan proposes cuts for The Global Fund to Fight AIDS, tuberculosis, and malaria as well as the President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR). The Global Fund requested a total of $2.7 billion from the United States for 2010. In return, the United States will provision $900 million dollars. Additionally, PEPFAR funding is set to increase from $6.490 billion in 2009 to $6.655 billion in 2010. The President had initially promised a $1 billion increase in annual PEPFAR funding during his 2007 campaign.

By cutting support for such programs, the United States may miss opportunities to combat dangerous diseases, including AIDS.

For more information, please see the president’s official statement on the Global Health Initiative.