Latest news with #RyanWhiteComprehensiveAIDSResourcesEmergency
Chicago Tribune
21-07-2025
- Health
- Chicago Tribune
Public health officials: Ending the HIV epidemic is in sight. We can't stop now.
Thanks to decades of sustained federal investment, Chicago, Cook County and Illinois are on the cusp of ending the HIV epidemic in our city, county and state. This remarkable progress is a testament to programs such as the Ryan White Comprehensive AIDS Resources Emergency (CARE) Act, established in 1990 to provide crucial health care to those living with HIV and AIDS. This critical legislation, named in honor of young AIDS activist Ryan White, marked a turning point in our fight against HIV. It wasn't just a humanitarian response; it was sound public health policy. Within that decade, the spread of HIV, the progression of HIV to AIDS and the mortality rates due to AIDS all peaked and have been declining ever since. Funding channeled through state and city agencies such as the Illinois Department of Public Health (IDPH), the Cook County Department of Pubic Health (CCDPH) and the Chicago Department of Public Health (CDPH), alongside direct support to community organizations, made medical treatment and support services accessible, especially for low-income individuals. Coupled with Centers for Disease Control and Prevention grant programs for monitoring, testing and prevention with lifesaving tools such as the prophylaxis medicines PrEP and Doxy PEP, we've built a robust system that works. It is thanks to this funding and the work of hundreds of epidemiology teams at local health agencies including IDPH, CCDPH and CDPH that we have data that shows how many people have received an HIV diagnosis and how many people are receiving HIV care. Thirty-five years later, Chicago, Cook County and Illinois, along with the rest of the country, have seen a dramatic decrease in new diagnoses thanks to these prevention, testing and treatment programs. We also see higher percentages of those living with HIV getting vital care and treatment and living long, full lives. But this progress is fragile. To pull back now would be a catastrophic mistake, especially for our most vulnerable communities. Despite hitting a significant low in new HIV cases, the burden of HIV/AIDS still falls disproportionately on communities of color. And while medical advancements allow those living with HIV to survive and thrive, their care demands continuous, costly services. More work is needed to see basic investment and improvements to HIV monitoring and infrastructure while also making use of more advanced technology. Consider the immediate impact: In 2024 alone, nearly 14,000 Chicagoans and thousands more Illinoisans relied on Ryan White funding for their HIV care. A staggering 70% of those served by CDPH-funded programs are Black, Latino, or Hispanic — the very communities most affected by HIV/AIDS. The lifeline for these programs? Federal funding. In fact, more than 90% of CDPH's annual budget for managing infectious diseases, including HIV, comes directly from federal sources. Yet, despite this clear success and urgent need, Washington, D.C., is debating draconian cuts to these vital programs in next year's budget, even threatening to rescind funds already allocated for 2025. The consequences of these cuts would be devastating. AmfAR, the Foundation for AIDS Research, projects that a 50% reduction in HIV prevention funding from the CDC could lead to 75,000 new HIV infections across the U.S. by 2030 — and that number would nearly double if all funding is eliminated. Here in Illinois, we could face over 5,500 additional new HIV cases, leading to sicker populations and a tragic rise in deaths due to lack of treatment. Without these federal dollars, our neighbors would lose access to critical prevention tools such as PrEP, essential testing for HIV and sexually transmitted infections, and lifesaving treatments. We stand at a crossroads. We have the knowledge, tools and proven programs to end the HIV epidemic. We are so close. To retreat now, when the finish line is in sight, would be an act of profound negligence. We urge our elected officials in Washington, D.C., to reject these dangerous cuts and continue investing in the programs that protect the health and well-being of all Illinoisans. We cannot afford to backtrack and lose the tremendous progress that has been made in fighting HIV. The health of our communities depends on it.
Yahoo
21-03-2025
- Health
- Yahoo
I've been able to live a happy life after my AIDS diagnosis. Trump could upend that.
NBC News reported this week that President Donald Trump's administration is thinking about getting rid of the Center for Disease Control and Prevention's division that focuses on HIV prevention and giving those responsibilities to the Department of Health and Human Services. There's apparently another potential plan, a source told NBC News, that would cut up to $700 million from the CDC's HIV division. As a person who was diagnosed with HIV and AIDS in 2006, I'm dreading what comes next. Just how far will any of this go or end? When I was diagnosed, I was prescribed antiretrovirals, and, within months, my viral load dropped to undetectable levels. The virus has remained undetectable since then, and I am now healthy and thriving. I've come a long way from the opportunistic infections I was constantly dealing with at the time of my diagnosis. Then, I was barely insured and terrified that I might never recover. Within months, my insurer rescinded my health insurance policy. How was I going to pay out of pocket for the costly medications I needed to keep me alive? I soon learned about the Ryan White Comprehensive AIDS Resources Emergency (CARE) Act. It provides HIV primary care, treatment and supportive services for low-income people living with HIV. The law provides a safety net that covers the copays for my HIV prescription, which would otherwise cost about $4,000 a month. This is stabilizing for my physical and mental health. People living with HIV work very hard to suppress the virus so that it cannot be detected in our blood because if the virus is undetectable, then it is 'untransmittable.' That is, it cannot be passed on to others through sex. In short, treatment is everything, and treatment is prevention. Knowing we cannot expose our partners to HIV and pose no threat to others is affirming and liberating. It allows us to safely have pleasurable relationships with others and make babies. The Trump administration has already worked to eliminate USAID and hamper PEPFAR (President Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief), which is credited with saving more than 26 million lives in 55 countries since its creation in 2003. Now, the CDC may be eliminating funding for HIV prevention or incorporating it into HHS's Ryan White program. I and others in my community are nervous for the future of HIV treatment and the future of HIV prevention. State and local health departments and community-based nonprofits depend on the CDC's HIV division for HIV testing, HIV education, funding for the pre-exposure prophylaxis, or PrEP, funding and technical support in public health efforts. Removing funding for this could potentially fuel new cases. PrEP, when used correctly, can stop someone from acquiring HIV during intimate encounters. Shoehorning HIV prevention services into the Ryan White HIV/AIDS program, which provides HIV care, could overburden the program. Resources to serve the 1.2 million people living with HIV in the U.S. are already stretched thin. Resources can be even scarcer in the Deep South, especially in its rural and urban areas. At the same time, House Republicans seem bent on slashing Medicaid. Many low-income or disabled people living with HIV depend on Medicaid for health care. I am more concerned than ever about the unraveling of safety nets that wrap around not only people living with HIV but anyone with a chronic health condition. Some days, everything seems under threat. Trump's flurry of executive orders against DEI pose a particular danger to people like me, a Black person and member of the LGBTQ community. Many HIV prevention and treatment programs focus on LGBTQ people (sometimes trans people in particular), Black people and women. These programs for treatment and prevention may not be in alignment with Trump's anti-DEI agenda. Until this week, there was not a lot of talk from leaders in the HIV-positive community about preparing people living with HIV for potential service interruptions. In their defense, they didn't have a crystal ball to predict this, and they have received no guidance from federal funding agencies. Nevertheless, that failure to plan or consider contingencies does not help clients or patients sleep better at night. We can see from PEPFAR the consequences of reduced services or zero funding. Millions of lives are affected and rationing of medication and care has started in Africa. When might we need to start to rationing medication or care in the U.S.? I could probably last a couple of months but what then? Being undetectable and healthy is great. We're living long lives now and getting old. Even though I am trying to remain hopeful that any reshuffling of the CDC or Ryan White will be minimal, I realize hope is not a strategy. Too many have fought hard to get the science where it is and to get the funding where it is. Last year, I traveled to the southwest corner of France and noticed that many of the road signs were turned upside down. I was told farmers did that to protest government policies they opposed. It seems to me that now's the time to turn some things upside down in this country and fight back. We cannot let Trump make HIV a fatal disease again. This article was originally published on
