GENEVA, May 22, 2025 (BSS/AFP) - The United Nations AIDS agency on Wednesday welcomed comments by US presidential advisor Elon Musk that the administration could take a new look at funding cuts for AIDS prevention programmes.

UNAIDS has estimated that there could be an extra 4.2 million AIDS related deaths by 2029 because of foreign aid cuts ordered by President Donald Trump as part of efforts to slash US goverment spending.

Billionaire Musk, a key player in Trump's search for savings, indicated in a video interview at the Doha Economic Forum on Tuesday that funding cuts could be reviewed.

UNAIDS said it was "deeply encouraged by the statement by Elon Musk that he will fix the current crisis related to a lack of US government funding for lifesaving HIV services".

The United States President's Plan for Emergency AIDS Relief (PEPFAR) has played a crucial role in the global campaign against HIV/AIDS in the past two decades.

Some of the US funding is subject to a limited waiver but UNAIDS said that many projects remain "stalled" as the waivers have not been fully applied in all countries getting assistance.

"The waiver excludes almost all HIV prevention services except those for pregnant and breastfeeding women," according to the UN agency.

"Which ones aren't being funded? I'll fix it right now," Musk told the interviewer at the Doha forum.

When asked about specific funding for AIDS drugs, he said: "If in fact this is true, which I doubt it is, then we will fix it."

Musk in general strongly defended the funding freeze but insisted that not all programmes by the USAID foreign aid agency, which has been closed, had been cut.

"Parts of the USAID that were found to be even slightly useful have been transferred to the State Department, so they have not been deleted," he said.

"What we find is an enormous amount of fraud and graft and very little of this actually gets to the kids at all," he added.