In his first term, President Donald Trump promised to end America\u2019s HIV epidemic \u2014 and he put the resources of the federal government behind the effort. This time, he has deployed the powers of his office to gut funding, abandoning those communities at highest risk of HIV.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Health care groups across the South are scaling back HIV testing and outreach because of the Trump administration\u2019s budget cuts and layoffs.\u00a0<\/p>\n
A small clinic in Hattiesburg, Mississippi, is no longer offering people HIV testing. The AIDS Services Coalition\u2019s grant for HIV prevention from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention had been delayed for months \u2014 a situation linked partly to CDC layoffs that included grant administrators. The coalition couldn\u2019t afford to run the clinic with no promise of reimbursement.\u00a0<\/p>\n
At a recent event in Jackson, nonprofit groups offered free hoagies, showers, blood pressure checks, and HIV tests to people in need. The organizers commiserated over notices they\u2019d received days earlier, cutting hundreds of thousands of dollars in federal funding that had been swept up in the Trump administration\u2019s termination of research dollars and clawback of more than $11 billion from health departments nationwide. That would mean feeding fewer people and offering less care.\u00a0<\/p>\n
The loss could prove tragic, said June Gipson, CEO of the health care group My Brother\u2019s Keeper. People who lack stable housing, transportation, or access to health care often need extra support to get tested for HIV or to stay on treatment. Otherwise, Gipson said, more people will become sicker with HIV and stand a greater chance of spreading the virus to others.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Directors of other community-based groups in Mississippi, Alabama, Louisiana, and Tennessee told KFF Health News they too reduced spending on HIV testing and outreach because of delayed or slashed federal funds \u2014 or fears of more cuts to come.\u00a0<\/p>\n
This is a particular problem in the South, as the region accounted for half of the nation\u2019s new HIV cases<\/a> in 2022. Southern states also heavily rely on federal funds: Mississippi, Alabama, and Louisiana put zero state funds into HIV prevention last year, compared with half of Colorado\u2019s budget coming from the state and 88% of New York\u2019s.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cWhen you are in the South, you need the federal government,\u201d Gipson said.\u00a0<\/p>\n Since February, My Brother\u2019s Keeper has lost a succession of grants. The National Institutes of Health pulled one worth $12 million, not even two years into a 10-year project, meant to tackle inequities. The NIH\u2019s termination letter echoed executive orders attacking diversity, equity, and inclusion. Next, the group lost a CDC award to reduce health disparities. More cuts are on the horizon if Congress passes the Trump administration\u2019s proposed budget, which slashes the CDC\u2019s budget by $3.59 billion. And its plan, leaked in April, for the Department of Health and Human Services eliminates all funding for Trump\u2019s first-term initiative \u201cEnding the HIV Epidemic.\u201d From 2017 to 2022, new HIV infections decreased by 21%<\/a> in the cities and Southern states it targeted.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cWe\u2019re seeing an about-face of what it means to truly work towards ending HIV in this country,\u201d said Dafina Ward, executive director of the Southern AIDS Coalition.<\/p>\n KFF Health News<\/a> is a national newsroom that produces in-depth journalism about health issues and is one of the core operating programs at KFF\u2014an independent source of health policy research, polling, and journalism. Learn more about KFF<\/a>.<\/p>\nUSE OUR CONTENT<\/h3>\n