Nairobi, Kenya - At least 24 HIV-positive sex workers have died in Kenya due to President Donald Trump's decision to cut the US aid which provided them with the crucial medicines that kept them alive.

Under an unmarked block of concrete in a Nairobi cemetery lie the remains of Judy, a HIV-positive Kenyan sex worker, who died just hours before she was due to meet with AFP for an interview last month – she was but one more victim of US aid cuts.

AFP has confirmed the deaths of at least 24 HIV-positive sex workers in Kenya who, like Judy, were in good health until aid was slashed by the US in early 2025.

The real number of deaths is likely far higher, and NGOs say there is already a huge spike in HIV infections among sex workers that will likely spark a "catastrophic" rise in cases among the general population.

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The US has long been the biggest donor to Kenya's health system, but the Trump administration has restructured support away from NGOs, and passed rules to prevent them promoting issues it opposes.

With Trump's approval, Elon Musk – the world's richest man – gutted the US Agency for International Development (USAID) in early 2025, depriving millions of the world's most vulnerable of crucial medicine, food, and support. These cuts have likely contributed towards millions of preventable deaths.

A July 2026 report by the Foundation for AIDS Research (amfAR) found that 73% of US-funded organizations had been forced to end services to "key populations" – sex workers, LGBTQ communities, and drug users – due to the cuts.

Kenya had dozens of clinics catering specifically to sex workers, providing drugs, condoms, and other preventive treatments. Most have now closed.

Decades of progress are being put at risk, UNAIDS Chief Winnie Byanyima told AFP: "This is the most serious disruption in the HIV response since the world came together to fight this disease."