Blacks and Hispanics are particularly affected by HIV, making up more than half (70 percent) of estimated new HIV infections in 2023. STOCK PHOTO

By David L. Snelling

Miami – During President Donald Trump’s first term, he vowed to end the spread of HIV, the virus that causes AIDS, when the epidemic had reached record numbers for new reported cases nationwide.

The president pumped millions of dollars in foreign HIV aid relief to fight the deadly disease in countries where the infection rate was high.

Trump now is singing a different tune, proposing to cut billions of dollars from programs to prevent HIV infections, free testing and education, research for new medicine and breakthroughs to combat the virus nationwide and abroad.

Trump’s “Big Beautiful Bill” cuts roughly $9 billion in foreign aid relief for countries experiencing high numbers of HIV infections including in Africa and U.S. organizations’ efforts to bring the epidemic under control.

Senate Republicans voted to spare funding for HIV/AIDS relief including a $400 million proposed slash for the U.S. President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief or PEPFAR.

PEPFAR, which was launched in 2003 by then-President George W. Bush, is a U.S. government initiative designed to combat the global HIV/AIDS pandemic.

The program is credited with saving millions of lives by preventing HIV infections and supporting countries struggling to keep spread of the disease under control.

The U.S. has invested more than $110 billion in response to HIV/AIDS saving 26 million lives and preventing millions of HIV infections in more than 50 countries.

But the Trump administration said the program has not sufficiently provided a direct benefit to the U.S.

Congress rejected cuts to PEPFAR, even as Republicans pushed through nearly $8 billion in foreign aid cuts. The program has long had robust bipartisan support enabling 5.5 million babies to be born without HIV from HIV-positive mothers, provided support to 7 million orphans, and driven a decline in new HIV infections in young women in every geographic area that implements its prevention program.

But according to The New York Times, a draft plan at the State Department details proposals for “transitioning” low-income countries away from PEPFAR, with the Trump administration imposing bilateral relationships to ostensibly prioritize public health in the United States.

Countries in the Global South would be asked to focus efforts on “the detection of outbreaks that could threaten the United States and the creation of new markets for American drugs and technologies.

Carl Schmid, the executive director of the HIV and Hepatitis Policy Institute, said Trump’s 2018 Ending the HIV Epidemic Initiative (EHEI) landed $593 million but he’s scaling back on the $220 million set aside for the program since his return to the White House.

“They are keeping the ending of the HIV epidemic initiative, funding for CDC, but then that has to be spread out throughout the whole country, and it’s just not enough money,” Schmid told CNN.

The cuts could also potentially affect the CDC’s and state health departments’ ability to make treatments more publicly known, Schmid said.

He cited treatments like the recently FDA-approved “Lenacapavir” or “LEN,” which is an injectable form of PrEP taken every six months to reduce the risk of getting HIV in people who are HIV negative.

Previously, users could take a daily oral pill to prevent HIV but Schmid said the drawback is remembering to routinely take the pill.

According to the Center for Disease Control Prevention or CDC, in 2023, roughly 40 million worldwide had been infected with HIV, with an estimated 1.3 million new infections occurring that year.

In the U.S., an estimated 1.2 million people are living with HIV, with around 38,000 new diagnoses reported annually.

Florida has among the highest rates of HIV infections nationwide.

Orange County was one of 48 priority jurisdictions in the country due to its high rate of new diagnoses, which consistently outpace the state’s rate, according to the Florida Department of Health.

In 2023, Orange County had the third highest rate of new HIV diagnoses in Florida, behind Miami-Dade and Broward counties.

While HIV affects all races and ethnicities in the United States, some groups are disproportionately affected compared to their population size.

Blacks and Hispanics are particularly affected by HIV, making up more than half (70 percent) of estimated new HIV infections in 2023.

HIV affects some groups more than others.

Social and structural issues, such as HIV stigma, homophobia, discrimination, poverty, and limited access to high-quality health care, influence health outcomes and continue to drive inequities.

But million-dollar federal grants for HIV preventative care for Florida are still in peril which supports HIV prevention programs, testing, outreach and research.

Local organizations and universities said the funding is critical to stop the spread of HIV and help those affected live longer lives.

“These cuts have real time implications for us here, not in abstract numbers, but real human lives, and the reversal of some of our most hard-won progress in the fight against HIV,” said Elizabeth Sherman, an HIV clinical pharmacy specialist and an associate professor at Nova Southeastern University in Davie.

The Trump administration has canceled more than 230 HIV-related research grants through the National Institutes of Health, totaling nearly $2.5 billion in unspent awards, according to reports.

Florida set up free HIV testing sites throughout the state, some are mobile traveling to neighborhoods with the highest HIV population.

Due to federal cuts, clinics across Florida have already paused their free HIV testing programs.