African researchers are working to cure HIV, but US aid cuts are in the way | Health News

Patrick Arbuthnot was browsing his emails on what seemed like a normal workday in his lab in Johannesburg when he saw a strange notification pop up.

“Stop Work,” it read.

Arbuthnot does not remember exactly what else the United States official said in the body of text in January, but the one line seared in his memory was enough, even if it was almost impossible to believe.

For two years, the researcher had worked on developing an HIV vaccine to possibly help put an end to one of…