U.S. President Donald Trump's plan to cut foreign aid supporting HIV/AIDS treatment could cost 9 million years of lost life in South Africa and Cote d'Ivoire, according to a global study released on Monday.
In the first study to measure the impact of cuts in global investment in HIV care in terms of health and costs, scientists found sky-rocketing deaths in the African nations would far outweigh savings.
South Africa has the highest prevalence of HIV worldwide, with 19 percent of its adult population carrying the virus in 2015, according to UNAIDS, with a total of 7 million HIV-infected people.