Former senior health officials from President Trump’s initial term have cautioned that significant reductions made by the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) could lead to “catastrophic and irrational” consequences for the battle against the HIV crisis.
Brett Giroir, who held the position of director of the Health Bureau, shared on LinkedIn that addressing the US HIV epidemic was one of his primary targets upon assuming his new position in Trump’s first term.
“In my first week in the office, I established the HHS target to decrease new HIV infections in the US by 50 percent,” Giroir explained, noting that if a drug can suppress the HIV virus, and the virus is undetectable, it cannot be transmitted via sexual contact.
Giroir was a designated survivor during the 2019 State of the Union address, and when Trump unveiled the Ending HIV Epidemic (EHE) initiative, he remarked that he felt “connected to the announcement.” Giroir referred to it as a “Trump ’45 legacy,” and he commended the initiative’s successes.
“Nevertheless, that legacy is now at risk due to proposed or already implemented changes. This includes disbanding the infectious diseases and HIV policy office that spearheaded EHE’s efforts (which I took pride in creating) and cutting 150 positions in HIV prevention at the CDC. We reassigned key HIV leaders to different programs and targeted NIH GIORI, which aimed at HIV objectives.
Advocates and stakeholders raised the alarm when multiple branches of crucial federal HIV offices were effectively dismantled due to HHS layoffs. Some have described this action as in stark contrast to Trump’s earlier efforts during his first term.
Giroir voiced additional worries in his Wednesday post as leaked HHS budget proposals indicated no funding for the EHE initiative and reductions to the Ryan White HIV/AIDS program.
“The repercussions of these cuts will be catastrophic and nonsensical. They will undo all the progress we’ve achieved and jeopardize the legacy of boldness and skilled implementation by Trump ’45,” Giroir stated. “Trump ’47 should not permit Trump ’45’s significant public health successes to be erased, particularly if that legacy is recalled in history as the beginning of the end of America’s HIV/AIDS crisis.”
