CONTACT: Dorrit Walsh, dorrit.walsh@treatmentactiongroup.org

MARCH 25, 2025 – TAG is deeply concerned about the Trump administration’s potential plans to eliminate vital HIV programs at the CDC’s Division of HIV Prevention (DHP) and other programs in the National Center for HIV/AIDS, Viral Hepatitis, STD, and TB Prevention (NCHHSTP). This concern extends to possible cuts of as much as 50% to the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA); there has also been reporting that CDC expert advisory committees may be eliminated, including the CDC/HRSA Advisory Committee on HIV, Viral Hepatitis and STD Prevention and Treatment.^[1] These programs form the backbone of our nation’s infectious disease response to a number of diseases in addition to HIV, including HBV, HCV, chlamydia, gonorrhea, syphilis, and other transmissible infections. The programs save countless lives across the United States. Without DHP and other NCHHSTP programs, more Americans — including infants — will unnecessarily acquire HIV as well as congenital syphilis, which can be fatal if not treated rapidly enough. These cuts threaten all of the progress our country has made against HIV, TB, hepatitis C, and other infectious diseases.

“Cutting the CDC’s HIV prevention work reverses and undermines the decades of progress we’ve made toward ending the HIV epidemic,” noted Riko Boone, HIV Project Director. “We desperately need DHP alongside other prevention, testing, treatment, and research initiatives in order for us to ever realize an end to this epidemic in our lifetimes. We’re getting closer to reaching that goal every day, but these potential cuts would send us back to the days before a U.S. government response to HIV — and we absolutely cannot afford to turn back time.”

Since our founding during the darkest years of the AIDS crisis in 1992, TAG has urged the U.S .government to do everything possible to prevent HIV transmission and acquisition and improve the lives of all people affected by the virus. Over several decades, partners at CDC have done critical work to decrease HIV incidence and educate providers and the public about HIV. It is unthinkable that these decades of knowledge and expertise could be destroyed in the name of efficiency. Eliminating DHP and other NCHHSTP programs would be the least efficient way for the administration to save public dollars — without these programs, lifetime healthcare costs will increase by an estimated $24 billion and Americans’ lives will be measurably worse.

“In trying to imagine an America without the critically important programs at NCHHSTP, I’m left feeling horrified,” said Lizzy Lovinger, U.S. and Global Health Policy Director. “The CDC’s disease prevention work protects me and my child on a daily basis. Any plans to eliminate that work, whether on HIV or any other disease, puts the health and financial stability of my family and millions of other families at risk.”

TAG stands in solidarity with our partners, and urges the Trump administration to save lives and avoid future unnecessary costs by protecting NCHHSTP from any reorganization or cuts to funding or programs. Now is the time to redouble our efforts to end these epidemics, and we can’t afford to lose the momentum we have.

CALL TO ACTION:

We call on our supporters to voice outcry at the administration against these cuts by contacting your elected officials. You can visit https://www.congress.gov/members/find-your-member and tell your legislators to demand that their power to fund CDC be protected. Share your concerns with loved ones and raise awareness about the importance of these programs any way that you can.

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^[1] Gardner S. Trump admin considers shutting down some CDC expert panels. 2025 March 21.