Dramatic international funding cuts have thrown the global HIV response into turmoil, the United Nations said Tuesday, warning that new infections could surge.

The UNAIDS agency cautioned that, since the United States and others abruptly slashed funding this year, the ecosystem sustaining HIV treatment and prevention in dozens of countries has been "shaken to its core".

"Clinics closed without warning, thousands of health workers faced job losses or lost salaries and life saving, testing, treatment and prevention services experienced widespread and continuing disruption," UNAIDS executive director Winnie Byanyima told reporters in Geneva.

Presenting a new report, she described it as the "most significant setback in decades".

Byanyima pointed to "the abrupt pause by the United States" -

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