Organisers of an international HIV science conference urged the US government, a major donor to AIDS research and treatment programmes, to "stay engaged" even as President Donald Trump has threatened cuts.

"The American people are a major funder in this and we need them to stay engaged," International AIDS Society president Linda-Gail Bekker told journalists at a major HIV science conference in Paris. Failure to do so, she said, would "jeopardise" lives.