On World AIDS Day, the Presidential Advisory Council on HIV and AIDS (PACHA) emphasized that proposed reductions in federal funding for HIV programs could jeopardize years of progress in combating the epidemic, reports Baltimore Chronicle with a reference to ABC News. Council members, composed of clinicians, researchers, and community leaders, urged Congress and the White House to maintain support for domestic and global HIV initiatives, warning that insufficient funding could reverse critical gains made over decades.
Carole Treston, executive director of the Association of Nurses in AIDS Care and a PACHA member, reflected on her early experiences as a nurse visiting the AIDS Memorial Quilt on the National Mall. First displayed in 1987, the quilt honors those lost to the epidemic. Treston remembers her mother pausing at panels representing birth years similar to her own, illustrating the personal impact of the crisis. She described those early years as filled with despair, where little hope existed and loss was a constant presence.
While younger generations have grown up in a world with antiretroviral therapy, preventive medications, and the possibility of achieving an undetectable viral load, PACHA warns that progress remains fragile. As federal budget discussions continue, proposed cuts to HIV programs have intensified concerns that these public health gains could be undone.
Several council members released a letter urging continued federal investment, highlighting that the United States still sees more than 30,000 new HIV cases annually. They noted that without sustained funding, efforts to end the epidemic could stall, infections could rise, and overall public health would be affected. The letter stressed the importance of fully funding the bipartisan Ending the HIV Epidemic initiative, launched in 2019, which contributed to a 12% reduction in new infections. The council estimates that maintaining funding could save up to $100 billion in healthcare costs by 2030.
However, proposed budget measures in the House would eliminate funding for key domestic and global HIV programs, cut more than $1 billion from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and remove essential elements of the Ryan White Program, which supports people living with HIV.
White House spokesman Kush Desai dismissed the council’s warnings, describing PACHA as a largely symbolic entity and emphasizing the administration’s ongoing initiatives to advance HIV prevention and treatment, strengthen viral suppression programs through HRSA’s Ryan White program, and expand access to reliable HIV information.
PACHA members, including Treston and Tori Cooper of the Human Rights Campaign Foundation’s Transgender Justice Initiative, underscored the life-and-death stakes of sustained funding. Cooper highlighted that untreated HIV can lead to severe and painful outcomes, and she warned that barriers to testing and care would increase the risk of transmission to partners and newborns.
Dr. Philip Chan, an HIV physician in Rhode Island and a co-author of the council’s letter, emphasized that HIV is not a partisan issue and that continued investment is essential to prevent further infections. Chan noted that the Ending the HIV Epidemic initiative aims to reduce new infections by 75% by 2025 and 90% by 2030, but this progress could be reversed without consistent federal support.
For Treston, the AIDS quilt remains a solemn reminder of lives lost, but she remains hopeful that the United States can protect its achievements. Citing a bipartisan legacy of HIV policy, including early federal legislation, PEPFAR, and the Ryan White Program, she stressed that the nation has the tools to end the epidemic if federal support continues.
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