NPR. In rich countries like the US, we spend millions of dollars to save a life. People with

health insurance enjoy befuddlingly expensive surgeries and medication regimens.

Governments shell out for highway improvements to reduce crashes.

But there's a program that has been saving millions of lives for a fraction of that cost,

just $4,600 to save a human life.

That program is called PEPFAR, the U.S. President's Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief.

Ladies and gentlemen.

George W. Bush started it in 2003.

Seldom has history offered a greater opportunity to do so much for so many.

At this state of the union, President Bush asked Congress to commit $3 billion a year

to fight AIDS in Africa and the Caribbean.

It's now given an estimated 26 million people another chance at life by preventing and treating

HIV and AIDS. Under President Trump,

that program is being gutted. The president paused foreign assistance in January. Doge then

demolished USAID, which delivered a majority of the program's assistance. And now there's a bill going

through Congress that would codify much of these cuts.

So what's happening on the ground? Journalist John Cohen went to Southern Africa to find out.

They're reeling. They're dizzy. They're like, what? This is our trusted partner, the United

States government. How can they be doing this? This is our trusted partner, the United States government. How can they be doing this?

This is the indicator from Planet Money. I'm Darren Woods. Today on the show, HIV AIDS prevention under Trump,

and a trip to an African clinic to learn about the cost of these cuts.

Not everyone remembers this acutely,

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