America's most basic HIV protections are in danger as a decade of progress unravels

"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. A twice-yearly dose of PrEP to prevent HIV, approved by the Food and Drug Administration this year, is expected to have significant benefits - but experts are concerned about who will be able to afford this drug."

"Employees at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention have reportedly been tasked with dismantling their own work at the agency's HIV prevention division. Researchers at the state level are also struggling. At one of the country's oldest and largest historically Black medical schools in Tennessee, $2 million in federal HIV research funding has been scrapped. Millions of Americans are expected to lose health care coverage due to Trump's federal spending cuts."

"Federal programs funding the country's pivotal HIV services are in danger of being defunded or eliminated completely. On top of these cuts, Medicaid, the single largest source of insurance coverage for adults with HIV in the country, has been slashed - creating a dire situation for HIV-positive Americans. About four in ten Americans living with HIV rely on Medicaid. New paperwork requirements go into effect in 2027, which advocates expect will keep many people from renewing their coverage or enrolling at all."

Decades of progress in HIV treatment and prevention in the United States is being derailed by federal policy changes under the Trump administration. Scientific advances, including a potential vaccine and a twice-yearly PrEP, have been halted or jeopardized, with affordability concerns for new prevention drugs. CDC staff have been asked to dismantle HIV prevention work, state researchers face funding losses, and a Tennessee historically Black medical school lost $2 million in federal HIV research support. Medicaid cuts threaten the primary coverage source for adults with HIV, and new 2027 paperwork rules may reduce enrollment and renewals.

Read at Advocate.com