The program known as PEPFAR is one of the most effective and popular U.S. foreign aid projects in history, and the government says it has saved the lives of over 25 million people around the world wit

Republicans in the US Senate have said they will spare the US-backed HIV/Aids programme Pepfar from cuts, amid a larger effort to reduce government spending. Senators said they would end a plan to cut $400m (£300m) from the President's Emergency Plan for Aids Relief programme, leaving total proposed cuts at $9bn.

The move to save PEPFAR funding may prove useful in rallying GOP support from powerful lawmakers like Senate Appropriations chair Susan Collins, an outspoken critic of Trump’s proposed cuts.