#CDC

#CDC

Decades of progress in HIV treatment and preventionin the United Statesis being derailed by the Trump administration, public health experts say - and without reversing course, the damage will be devastating. Threats to key federal programs are unfolding just as science has significantly advanced how easily patients can treat and manage HIV - leaving experts deeply frustrated. The development of a vaccine, which researchers believed was closer than ever to becoming a reality, is now dead in its tracks.

Numbers are still sketchy, but reports from Friday indicate that more than 4,000 federal workers overall were initially targeted for layoffs. The Trump administration linked the firings to the ongoing government shutdown, which legal experts have suggested is illegal. Unions representing federal workers have already filed a lawsuit challenging the move. Of the reported 4,000 terminations, about 1,100 to 1,200 were among employees in the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS).

In November 2022, the WHO decided to change the name. The United Nations health agency noted that it had received reports from individuals and countries about the "racist and stigmatizing language online, in other settings, and in some communities." The WHO decided to switch to the name "mpox" with a one-year grace period.

The action prompted a lawsuit from nine medical groups who alleged the administration's actions were arbitrary, illegal and threatened public health. Driving the news: Under the agreement, the Health and Human Services Department will reinstate the webpages in question to reflect how they appeared online as of January 29, 2025. Once that happens, the case will then dismissed, according to AcademyHealth, one of the plaintiffs in the lawsuit.

So, if we're headed now in a direction where we can't trust these agencies as they're being dismantled and, you know, we have these reports that by next month there is going to be some kind of report that attempts to tie vaccines to autism, for example, and stuff that isn't actually based in science, who should Americans then rely on for health guidance?