The Trump administration is weighing a plan to dissolve the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s (CDC) division preventing AIDS, doubtlessly shifting its duties to a different department throughout the Department of Health and Human Service, NBC News reported Tuesday, citing a supply acquainted with the plan.
The proposal stays in its early levels, and no last resolution has been made, in response to the supply. A memo circulating amongst HIV prevention advocates recommended the change may happen inside days, however the supply indicated the timeline is probably going longer.
Public well being specialists warn that such a transfer may jeopardize many years of progress in stopping new HIV infections. Jesse Milan, the CEO of AIDS United, a nonprofit devoted to HIV advocacy, referred to as the potential elimination of the CDC’s HIV prevention division “devastating.”
“The work is important because every new HIV transmission results in a person having a lifetime cost related to being HIV positive,” he mentioned.
In 2022, the US noticed an estimated 31,800 new HIV infections, in response to authorities information.
The US has made nice strides in decreasing the variety of new HIV infections, with charges falling most sharply amongst individuals age 13-24. Experts concern this progress may very well be misplaced if the CDC stops backing preventative initiatives.
In addition to eliminating the division, the administration is reportedly contemplating chopping as a lot as $700 million from CDC’s HIV prevention funding and no last resolution has been reached, the supply mentioned.
“No final decision on streamlining CDC’s HIV Prevention Division has been made,” Andrew Nixon, a division spokesperson, mentioned in an emailed assertion.
“HHS is following the Administration’s guidance and taking a careful look at all divisions to see where there is overlap that could be streamlined to support the President’s broader efforts to restructure the federal government,” Nixon mentioned. “This is to ensure that HHS better serves the American people at the highest and most efficient standard.”
Since taking workplace, the Trump administration has taken quite a lot of controversial well being initiatives, from muting suggestions for common vaccination, to chopping funding for illness prevention overseas, which may result in outbreaks of communicable illnesses that always cross borders into the US.
Cutting funding from USAID applications resulted in ending drug trials on HIV prevention, which may result in drug-resistant strains of the virus creating, public well being advocates warned.
Source: www.anews.com.tr