Thanks to the support of advocates and community members who supported the #SaveHIVFunding campaign in 2023, we were able to successfully avert $767 million in domestic HIV funding cuts proposed by House Republicans, as well as lift up calls for a National PrEP Program.
With your support, we were able to build bipartisan support in the Senate to fund HIV prevention and treatment services for another year. Unfortunately, we are again dealing with half a billion in proposed cuts to HIV funding by House Republicans as we get closer to the 2030 federal deadline for ending the HIV epidemic.
US funding has resulted in treatment access for at least half a million Americans living with HIV who receive support annually. Domestic HIV prevention efforts have accelerated with the establishment of the first National HIV/AIDS Strategy in 2010 and the announcement of the Ending the HIV Epidemic initiative in 2019, resulting in a 16% reduction in new HIV infections since 2017 in America’s most highly affected jurisdictions. If we maintain and expand HIV funding, we can finally bring the epidemic under control for all American communities.
In contrast, a half a billion loss to domestic funding would put all existing progress at risk. Every new HIV infection in the US creates $501,000 in lifetime healthcare costs, a figure many advocates believe is a huge underestimation. An increase of just 2,000 new cases in the US will add billions to our national debt and obliterate any savings House appropriators seek to achieve. Five thousand Americans still die from AIDS-related causes each year. Those numbers will grow if we cannot ensure ongoing funding for key support services.
This is why the 113 advocacy organizations listed below have re-launched the #SaveHIVFunding campaign - to gather support from community, advocates, and leaders in Congress to oppose these cuts, advocate for robust FY25 funding, and urge Congress to honor the bipartisan commitment to end the HIV epidemic in the U.S. by 2030. The movement to end the HIV epidemic cannot survive such drastic cuts, and HIV historically has been a bipartisan issue, including the EHE initiative which was launched under the Trump Administration in 2019.
We are asking for your support again! By signing-on to our petition to representatives in Congress, you can help avoid drastic cuts to HIV funding, while calling for increased funding to HIV prevention, treatment, and support services. Please also review the #SaveHIVFunding social media toolkit that you and your organization can use to urge our leaders in Congress to #SaveHIVFunding.