Where We Stand: HIV & Health News Brief

The world around us is shifting fast, and it can be hard to keep up with the federal impacts on our critical work. We’re here to share the latest news and information impacting HIV and STI related funding and administrative changes coming from the Federal administration that affects the U.S.’s domestic HIV response. Just note that this information is changing daily, so connect with CAP on social media to stay up-to-date in realtime.

CDC HIV Prevention Division Cuts

The current administration is in the process of defunding the HIV Prevention Division of the CDC to the tune of $1 billion in cuts. With more than 90% of all federal funding for HIV prevention coming from the CDC, these cuts would essentially cripple our nation’s ability to prevent new infections and continue to make progress to end the HIV epidemic. As this article is published, we have received word that a number of branches  within the HIV Prevention Division, including HIV research, qualitative sciences, capacity development, prevention communications, and behavioral & clinical surveillance have been defunded.

Under the CDC’s Division of HIV Prevention, our country has seen a nearly 20% reduction in new HIV infections from 2010 to 2022, according to amfAR. Consequently, these devastating cuts are counterintuitive. Not only will they fail to save this country money, they will actually lead to an increase in cost for public health–new infections and the associated lifelong HIV care costs substantially more than the cost of preventing thousands and thousands of new infections yearly. You can read more in the NY Times, in this article by Apoorva Mandavilli.

Millions in HIV & LGBTQ+ Research Terminated as NIH Makes Cuts to Grants 

Relatedly, grants and contracts that fund millions in HIV Services, LGBTQ+ Health, STI Prevention, Substance Use Services, Covid-19, Vaccine, and Equity-based Research have been abruptly canceled by the National Institutes of Health. This has, understandably, caused widespread concern. A PDF list of canceled grants, which you can see here, is now 42 pages long. 

A notable inclusion in these cuts was a sudden cancellation of $18 million in funding for the Adolescent Trials Network, which is focused on diagnosing, preventing, and treating HIV among adolescents and young adults. Additional cuts include grants to prevent and control emerging infectious diseases; immunization and vaccination grants; and PrEP and HIV prevention research grants. As reported by Jen Christensen at CNN, the elimination of these grants was a direct result of a Presidential Memo directing federal agencies to eliminate “wasteful spending.” 

Public health officials and HIV researchers are speaking out, warning of the dire effects that will be felt nation-wide as medical and health advances in HIV are defunded, calling the termination of federal grants “chaos and insanity” and saying this will deeply impact our ability as a nation to end HIV & AIDS.  

$12 Billion Federal Grants to State Health Departments Canceled 

News broke last week that the Department of Health & Human Services (DHHS) has canceled more than $12 billion in federal grants that support state health departments. These cancellations will result in thousands of lost jobs and lasting implications on disease tracking, prevention, and data collection across the nation. State health departments rely on these funds for critical testing and surveillance on a variety of illnesses, including Covid-19, measles, syphilis, and bird flu. 

Layoffs and Restructuring at all Health & Human Services Agencies 

Last week, the head of Health and Human Services, Robert F. Kennedy Jr., announced in a YouTube video “Make America Healthy Again” a series of “painful” changes that will affect the CDC, the FDA, NIH, and Medicare/Medicaid. This changes mean layoff or departure of 20,000 HHS employees. This overall workforce reduction from 82,000 to 62,000 employees represents a nearly 25% reduction in our already over-burdened public health workforce, with the administration saying that most, if not all, of the affected employees are from operations, communications, human resources, and other administrative functions. The FDA and CDC are reported to be hardest hit–losing roughly 20% of their staff. 

It remains to be seen which HIV prevention activities will be affected, though we know that “HIV/AIDS” will be included as a division under the new “Administration for a Healthy America (AHA)”, along with mental health, environmental health, maternal and child health, and others. HIV Law & Policy shares that, “These reductions and consolidations will disrupt healthcare and services, leading to more people testing positive for HIV, more people facing increased barriers to vital services, more people losing access to treatment, and ultimately more people dying.” 

Medicaid 

Medicaid, our nation’s safety net health care for 72 million people, is likely to see billions of dollars in drastic cuts at the federal level–the recently passed House budget resolution cuts Medicaid up to $88 billion per year for a decade. This would leave states in a lurch, as they decide whether to make up those cuts from the federal level in order to keep providing care to the elderly, children, and people with disabilities. KFF estimates that states could raise taxes by 6% per resident in order to make up the shortfall, or make cuts to other state programs such as education. 

You can read more about this issue from the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities (by Allison Orris and Elizabeth Zhang).

How You Can Make a Difference

No matter who you are, it is critical to stay informed. Misinformation is one of the administration’s most used tactics, and the single best way to counter that is through sharing accurate, up-to-date news and resources for our community. We strive to share critical information about policy and funding changes as they happen, but you can also find accurate information from reputable local and national sources like OPB, NPR, HIV + Hep Policy Institute, the Center for HIV Law & Policy, and AIDS United. 

We also encourage you to engage and speak up! Be on the lookout for opportunities such as Action Alerts, with call scripts and email templates you can use to contact your legislators. 

And to ensure the resilience of community health programs that are at risk, consider making a donation if you are able. As federal grants become imperiled, your donations can ensure housing, HIV, and health services can continue, regardless of the administration’s attacks.