Devastating cuts proposed to Federal HIV budget
San Francisco AIDS Foundation is greatly alarmed by the proposed fiscal year 2024 cuts to HIV funding in the Federal budget by the Republican-led Labor, Health and Human Services, and Education and Related Agencies Appropriation Subcommittee.
The bill proposes eliminating all $220 million in funding for the CDC’s Ending the HIV Epidemics’ program, reducing the total CDC National Center on HIV, Hepatitis, STDs, and Tuberculosis by $226 million, cutting the Minority HIV/AIDS Fund by $32 million, reducing total funding for the National Institutes of Health by $3.8 billion, and reducing Ryan White Care Program funding by $238 million. Overall, the bill proposes an 18% cut to the Centers for Disease Control and a 12% cut to Health and Human Services.
“These are devastating proposed cuts that, if enacted, would challenge the public health infrastructure of California and states across the U.S.,” said Tyler TerMeer, PhD, CEO of San Francisco AIDS Foundation. “They would cause irreparable harm to HIV prevention, treatment, and care, and would take away critical services for the HIV community including substance use support and treatment, and mental health services. As SFAF continues to make progress on ending the HIV and AIDS epidemic with innovative services and culturally-informed care, we will continue to fight back against politically-motivated attacks on our communities and to fight against cuts to necessary care.”
“SFAF, in coalition with other HIV and AIDS organizations across the nation, strongly oppose these proposed budget cuts, and urge our state Senators to take action in order to ensure that these cuts do not harm the public health HIV infrastructure of California,” said Ernest Hopkins, Senior Strategist and Advisor at SFAF. “We cannot stand by as our communities are targeted and as life-saving government support is cast aside. These proposed changes would harm our most vulnerable residents, and would undue years of progress that we have made in reaching an end to the HIV epidemic.”
More information about the proposed cuts can be found in this press release from House Democrats Appropriations Committee.
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