Trump’s HIV cuts bite hard in Africa and at home

Donald Trump’s US government has turned its attention to HIV prevention, eliminating almost all departments and offices that focus on reducing transmission of the virus both abroad and in the United States.

The Trump administration is also dismissing all members of the Presidential Advisory Council on HIV and AIDS (PACHA), a group of outside experts that has helped to guide federal AIDS policy for 30 years.

At least 145 HIV studies have lost their funding in the past month, either because they investigate issues of care affecting ethnic minorities—thus falling foul of the administration’s ban on “DEI” (diversity, equity, inclusion) initiatives—or because they involve LGBTQ+ populations.

Reports emerged last month that the administration planned to shut down the HIV prevention division of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, possibly relocating it elsewhere in the Department of Health and Human Services. The division still exists in name but has since been hollowed out, losing five branches, including the Prevention Communication Branch and the HIV Research Branch.

Other branches in the Sexually Transmitted Diseases Division were also cut, such as the Disease Intervention and Response Branch, which identifies and tracks outbreaks of sexually transmitted diseases.

The Office of Infectious Disease Policy at the health department was also eliminated. This office supported implementation of the Ending the HIV Epidemic Initiative, a programme announced by Trump himself in his first term, when he set a goal of cutting 90% of new HIV infections in the US by 2030.

These cuts are part of a dramatic purge of federal health employees, of whom about 20%, or 10 000 people, have been laid off this month.1 The health department also closed half of its regional offices.

The Presidential Advisory Council, whose existence is mandated by law, will “continue …