Trump's funding cuts threats spark panic in HIV/AIDS community
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President Trump's proposed federal funding cuts have some in the HIV and AIDS community worried their programs and organizations could be paralyzed.
Why it matters: The Trump administration's sudden funding freeze last week sent groups like AIDS Foundation of Chicago (AFC) into a panic when leaders at the nonprofit couldn't access funds. AFC gets over 80% of its funding from the federal government.
- A federal judge temporarily halted the administration's freeze, but fears remain.
Zoom in: AFC does HIV case management, setting up HIV-positive people with medication, transportation to care, assistance with signing up for benefits and housing.
The big picture: Everything from Trump's dismantling of diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives within the federal government to his executive order recognizing only two sexes could affect the reporting of HIV and AIDS cases and subsequent funding.
By the numbers: Illinois had more than 9,600 HIV cases diagnosed from 2016 to 2023, according to the state Department of Public Health.
- But new HIV diagnoses in Illinois have gone down over the last decade — nearly 1,700 new infections were reported in 2012, compared with about 1,200 in 2021.
- Black cisgender men led new HIV cases in 2021, with 172. White cisgender men were the second highest group, with 90 new HIV diagnoses.
State of play: Trump's attacks on DEI could be especially damaging for programs like Minority AIDS initiative, which is federal funding for care for the most vulnerable populations, AFC president John Peller tells Axios.
- "It's supposed to focus on disproportionate rates of HIV among people of color, and so is that a program that we're supposed to stop? Even though it's still authorized by Congress and we still have an agreement with the state Health Department that says we have to do this work?"
- "We're doing the work until somebody tells us we can't."
The latest: Several CDC web pages with information regarding HIV/AIDS were scrubbed as of Friday afternoon, though it's not immediately clear what day the pages were removed.
Zoom out: Peller says he's worried about the accuracy of the national data now that the CDC's HIV dashboard lists only male and female, but not transgender, under "sex."
- Excluding that data could mean inaccurate numbers and less funding.
What we're watching: Cuts to Medicaid or inability to access those funds would have detrimental effects on the HIV community. Peller says Medicaid is the single largest payer of HIV care in Illinois.