The Ethics of Cutting HIV/AIDS Relief, with Mindy Belz

“If a person is entrusted to care for a building and decides to tear it down, there's a moral imperative to disclose whether there are people inside. There are 20.6 million people and 566,000 children living inside PEPFAR.”

PEPFAR is the President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief. And as of March 25, 2025, its congressional reauthorization has expired.

For more than two decades, its website states, “the U.S. government has invested over $110 billion in the global HIV/AIDS response, the largest commitment by any nation to address a single disease in history—saving 26 million lives, preventing millions of HIV infections, and accelerating progress toward controlling the global HIV/AIDS pandemic in more than 50 countries.”

Now, some estimate that over 20 million people will lose access to antiretroviral drugs, which may result in up to 1,650,000 deaths over the coming year.

In this episode, Mark Labberton speaks with Mindy Belz, an award-winning journalist and longtime war correspondent, to explore the urgent moral and humanitarian implications of PEPFAR’s uncertain future. Drawing on Belz’s deep reporting experience in conflict zones and her time covering global health efforts, their conversation traces the remarkable legacy of the U.S. government’s investment in HIV/AIDS relief, the stakes of congressional inaction, and the broader questions this crisis raises about American moral leadership, Christian charity, and global responsibility.

Together they discuss:

Mindy Belz’s background as a journalist and war correspondent

The significance of PEPFAR in the global battle against HIV/AIDS

The pivotal leadership role the U.S. government has played in supporting AIDS relief efforts for the past two decades

The devastating impact that losing PEPFAR would have on human life around the world, particularly in Africa

And, perspectives on charity, moral conscience, and faith in American Christianity

Helpful Links

mindybelz.com

Mindy’s Article about PEPFAR: “1,650,000: How killing a global program to fight HIV/AIDS kills”: “PEPFAR contracts ended under Trump mean 20 million people on treatment now face HIV disease again. Without more reinstatements that could lead to a death toll of 1.6 million in a year's time.”

About PEPFAR, the “President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief”: Through PEPFAR, the U.S. government has invested over $110 billion in the global HIV/AIDS response, the largest commitment by any nation to address a single disease in history – saving 26 million lives, preventing millions of HIV infections, and accelerating progress toward controlling the global HIV/AIDS pandemic in more than 50 countries.

From ThinkGlobalHealth: “PEPFAR Misses Reauthorization Deadline: What's Next for Global HIV Fight?”

Mindy’s book They Say We Are Infidels: On the Run from ISIS with Persecuted Christians in the Middle East

Follow Mindy on X @mindybelz

Follow Mindy on Substack: Globe Trot

About Mindy Belz

Mindy Belz is an award-winning American journalist. For over two decades, she has covered wars and victims of conflict in Afghanistan, Syria, Iraq, Sudan and the Balkans. She recounts some of her experiences in a 2016 award-winning book, They Say We Are Infidels.

Her work appears in The Wall Street Journal, Plough Quarterly, and other publications.