In a move health experts warn could undo decades of progress in HIV prevention, the Trump administration is allegedly preparing to eliminate all federal funding for domestic HIV programs. The decision, which could be announced anytime in the coming days, would shut down the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s (CDC) HIV prevention division.
This will halt all federally funded efforts. Jirair Ratevosian, a global health expert at Yale University said, “This is a dangerous move, Putting prevention programs on hold today means paying a much higher price tomorrow—in lives, economic stability, and public health.”
The cuts, which are part of a broader restructuring effort, would have severe consequences for organizations like the LGBT support centers which rely on federal funding to offer HIV testing, pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP), and linkage to treatment. Experts argue that halting HIV prevention now, at a time when the U.S. is on the brink of ending the epidemic, risks reversing hard-won progress.
