DAP Health joins health organizations to condemn plans to close CDC’s HIV prevention division

PALM SPRINGS, Calif. (KESQ) - DAP Health was one of 13 of the nation's leading LGBTQ+, HIV, and health organizations that united to condemn the Trump administration's plans to defund HIV prevention efforts at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

According to the organizations, HIV advocates learned about plans to end more than $1 billion in funding for the CDC’s HIV prevention initiatives, close the Division of HIV Prevention, and make deep cuts to CDC personnel.

In response to an inquiry for clarification, a CDC spokesperson issued the following statement to KESQ News Channel 3:

"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. This is to ensure that HHS better serves the American people at the highest and most efficient standard. No final decision on streamlining CDC’s HIV prevention division has been made."

- CDC Spokesperson

Advocates said the funding changes will reduce nationwide access to powerful HIV prevention tools, including pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP), surveillance initiatives to track outbreaks and infection rates, and prevention for not only HIV but also sexually transmitted infections (STIs), viral hepatitis, and tuberculosis (TB).

“We are outraged and deeply alarmed by the Trump administration’s reckless moves to defund and deprioritize HIV prevention. These abrupt and incomprehensible possible cuts threaten to reverse decades of progress, exposing our nation to a resurgence of a preventable disease with devastating and avoidable human and financial costs. Without the critical support of the CDC HIV Prevention Division, countless lives will be at risk— more people will fall ill, more lives will be lost, and we will be thrust back into an HIV epidemic reminiscent of the darkest chapters in public health history,” said the CEOs of the aligned organizations.

The group said the new plan runs counter to the Ending the HIV Epidemic (EHE) initiative enacted in 2019 during Trump's first administration. The initiative aimed to reduce new HIV infections by 90% by 2030 and led to nearly 7,000 fewer HIV cases in 2022 compared to 2016.

There are currently more than 30,000 new HIV infections that happen nationwide every year.

“Neither our country nor our own backyard can afford the cost — human as well as financial — of defunding HIV prevention,” added DAP Health CEO David Brinkman. “At DAP Health, we will continue to fight for the rights and well-being of those living with and at risk for HIV. We refuse to turn back the clock, and remain committed to eradicating HIV by 2030.” 

The organizations added that closing the CDC’s Division of HIV Prevention would also result in rising costs for the country. HIV, STI, viral hepatitis, and TB prevention programs currently provide cost savings for the U.S.

With an average lifetime cost of $500,000 for a person living with HIV, it would only take an average of 40 more new HIV infections per state every year to exceed the $1 billion saved by making cuts to the CDC Division of HIV Prevention.

"Without critical federal public health infrastructure devoted to HIV prevention, new cases of HIV would likely far exceed that estimate," the organizations stated.

The following LGBTQ+, HIV, and health organizations condemn the Trump administration's planned actions to defund critical HIV prevention efforts at the CDC:

• APLA Health, Los Angeles, CEO Craig E. Thompson
• Callen-Lorde Community Health Center, New York, CEO Patrick McGovern
• CrescentCare, New Orleans, CEO Alice Riener
• DAP Health, Palm Springs, CEO David Brinkman, MBA 
• Equitas Health, Columbus, CEO David Ernesto Munar
• Fenway Health, Boston, CEO Jordina Shanks
• L.A. LGBT Center, Los Angeles, CEO Joe Hollendoner, MSW
• Mazzoni Center, Philadelphia, CMO Dr. Stacey Trooskin
• Prism Health North Texas, Dallas, CEO Dr. John Carlo
• San Francisco AIDS Foundation, San Francisco, CEO Dr. Tyler TerMeer 
• San Francisco Community Health Center, San Francisco, CEO Lance Toma
• Thrive Alabama, Huntsville, CEO Mary Elizabeth Marr
• Whitman-Walker Health, Washington, D.C., CEO Naseema Shafi