Gizem Nisa Demir
31 July 2026•Update: 31 July 2026
The US State Department apologized after officials displayed a map that incorrectly labeled African countries during a presentation ahead of the AIDS 2026 conference, as the Trump administration defended changes to US-funded global HIV programs, according to a US media report.
The Advocate reported Thursday that every country identified on the map was mislabeled, with Nigeria placed inland, Mozambique moved north of Uganda and several other countries incorrectly positioned.
The State Department said it took “full responsibility” for the confusion and explained that the map had been produced by a team member who hastily revised the slide deck before the event, according to the report.
The outlet added that the slide contained a watermark indicating that it had been created using OpenAI technology.
Emily Bass, an HIV policy expert who attended the session and published images of the slide, said the errors reflected broader concerns about the administration’s portrayal of US global health efforts.
“The US Department of State Bureau of Global Health Security and Diplomacy is redrawing the map and rewriting history,” Bass wrote on Substack.
The incident came as a study released by amfAR at the conference found that delayed or canceled funding for the US President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR) had forced 1,700 HIV care sites to close and resulted in the loss of 16,000 health worker jobs.
Bass also disputed administration claims that its new agreements advanced country-led planning, noting that African officials had already led PEPFAR planning sessions in 2024.
“A map has to be properly labeled for anyone to get where they’re going,” she wrote.
