World AIDS Day: A time for reflection and action instead of erasure

Fear and uncertainty hang over much of the HIV community this World AIDS Day as we reflect on lives lost, progress made and current efforts to unravel our country’s HIV response. The Administration’s latest moves to bar U.S. government agencies from participating in World AIDS Day and to shutter the nonhuman primate HIV research laboratory at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention are among the many actions raising alarm bells. 

Closing the CDC’s HIV research lab will be a major blow to future innovations in HIV prevention. The CDC lab, primarily focused on HIV prevention, led the original studies on pre-exposure prophylaxis, or PrEP, a daily pill that is close to 100% effective at preventing HIV acquisition. PrEP is central to the Ending the HIV Epidemic initiative, a bold vision to dramatically reduce new HIV infections in the U.S. by 90% by 2030, launched during President Trump’s first term. The termination of this productive research lab that was actively studying new methods to prevent HIV is the latest step in the current Administration’s efforts to do away with CDC’s HIV Prevention Program entirely. 

Erasing HIV from the federal budget will not make the deadly virus go away but will reverse the progress made toward ending the HIV epidemic. Without continued research and support for HIV prevention, surveillance and services, new HIV transmissions and health care expenditures will climb, and people will die.   

Action must follow our reflection this year to ensure HIV prevention, treatment and research continue, and we don’t lose sight of our vision to end the HIV epidemic. We call on the Administration to recommit to efforts initiated in 2019 to the Ending the HIV Epidemic initiative and maintain the HIV research lab at CDC. We call for Congress to fully fund federal HIV programs, including prevention, in 2026 and for clinicians and researchers across the country to raise awareness about the dangers and harms of acts of censorship like canceling World AIDS Day.   

— Anna K. Person, MD, FIDSA — Chair, HIVMA  

About HIVMA 
The HIV Medicine Association is a community of more than 6,000 health care professionals who advance a comprehensive and humane response to the HIV pandemic, informed by science and social justice. HIVMA works to increase access to health care services and coverage for people with HIV and populations heavily impacted by HIV and to foster a robust, diverse and culturally competent HIV workforce. HIVMA is part of the Infectious Diseases Society of America. Visit hivma.org to learn more.