Physicians for Human Rights and the Council for Global Equality filed a lawsuit today in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York to compel the U.S. Department of State to comply with the Freedom of Information Act Physicians for Human Rights (PHR) and the Council for Global Equality (CGE) filed a […]

Responding to the Trump administration’s completion of the United States’ withdrawal from the World Health Organization (WHO) and its announcement of a sweeping expansion of the Global Gag Rule, Sam Zarifi, JD, LLM, executive director of Physicians for Human Rights (PHR), said:  “The United States is dismantling global public health institutions and partnerships that are critical to preventing […]

Trump administration disruptions to the U.S. government’s global HIV/AIDS program PEPFAR have caused severe harms – including previously unreported impacts on stigma, physical violence, and public trust – to people in Tanzania and Uganda, according to a new research brief published today by Physicians for Human Rights (PHR). Ahead of PEPFAR reauthorization negotiations in Congress […]

U.S. cuts to global aid have caused backsliding on decades of progress in HIV care, treatment, and prevention.

The Trump administration’s sudden funding freezes and cuts on foreign aid and the dismantling of the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) have already caused severe damage to the health of people around the world – and “threaten catastrophic harms” to global health in the years ahead, warn Physicians for Human Rights (PHR), the Open […]

The abrupt and sweeping cuts to U.S. global health support has led to preventable deaths, shortages of medicines, and reduced access to services for vulnerable communities in both Kenya and Democratic Republic of the Congo, according to two new research briefs published today by Physicians for Human Rights (PHR).  “Sexual violence survivors unable to access […]

The United States has historically been the largest provider of humanitarian assistance and bilateral support to the health sector in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), contributing billions of dollars annually through mechanisms such as United States Agency for International Development (USAID), the President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR), the Global Health Security […]

The United States (U.S.) has historically been a major supporter of public health initiatives in Kenya. From 2020– 2025, the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) committed approximately $2.5 billion in foreign assistance to Kenya (approximately $470 million per year) with 80 percent allocated for health-related programs. In January 2025, U.S. President Donald Trump […]

Salim S. Abdool Karim, MD, PhD, FRS, director of the Centre for the AIDS Programme of Research in South Africa (CAPRISA) and PHR Advisory Council member, reflects on the wide-ranging consequences of cuts to U.S. aid by the Trump administration. As an expert in clinical diseases epidemiology, Dr. Abdool Karim warns of both the unmistakable […]

This Physicians for Human Rights (PHR) research brief presents key insights from interviews with ten medical and public health experts who support projects across Ethiopia, including in Addis Ababa and Tigray, and data on the impact of the funding cuts across Ethiopia. This brief has a specific focus on Tigray where impacts of regional tensions […]

PHR urges members of Congress to exercise Congress’ power to determine the FY26 federal budget and to protect, restore, and fully fund global health aid.

President Trump’s policy agenda compounds suffering, threatens public health, and violates fundamental human rights.