Earlier in March, Florida's governor announced deep cuts to the state's HIV and AIDS prevention and treatment programs. Thousands of Floridians who depend upon these programs for life-saving anitretrovirals and PrEP will now have to pay steep, out-of-pocket costs.
Florida is but one state that has cut HIV and AIDS treatment funding, but their cuts have been some of the deepest. This portends a grave public health crisis; 3200 Floridians were diagnosed with HIV in 2022, the latest year for which we have data. For every 100,000 people in the state, 16.7 have an HIV diagnosis--giving the state one of the highest rates of prevalence in the US.
Many of those diagnoses occur once the virus has progressed to AIDS; without antiretrovirals, AIDS is a death sentence. Antiretrovirals allow HIV+ people to survive and live healthy lives, even after progression to AIDS. Moreover, they reduce the viral load to undectable levels, meaning that they cannot transmit HIV. Antiretrovirals are the most effectve way to keep people healthy and to stop the spread of the virus.
Like many of the other states that have either cut funding or are considering it, Florida did not expand Medicaid. These states also have the greatest prevalence of HIV diagnoses and the lowest rates of treatment.
This portends a dire public health emergency. AIDS-related deaths peaked in the mid 1990s; they declined sharply with the introduction of antiretrovirals and the creation of programs such as the Ryan White Program that provide assistance to patients who cannot afford ARTs. Many people I love are living happy, healthy lives today because of these programs; had they received their diagnoses just a few years prior, they would not likely have survived. To roll these programs back is unconscionable and shameful.
It's also unconscionable that the Trump administration has repressed what the CDC can share about HIV on its website. It has cut funding for its HIV surveillance/prevention program.
Reagan, Bush, and Clinton have all gone down in history for standing idly by as AIDS claimed hundreds of thousands of lives in the US, and nearly a million worldwide (in their time). Today, Trump is actively waging war on the queer community and poor urban and rural areas by setting the stage for yet another crisis. What makes this so damnably enraging is that this time, we know the cause. This time, we know how to prevent AIDS deaths. There's no reason for HIV to be a death sentence anymore, but Trump and his flunkies are working overtime to ensure that it once again will be for the poor and the marginalized.
Information on HIV and AIDS in Florida:
https://ahead.hiv.gov/florida/
Information on HIV and AIDS nationwide:
https://www.cdc.gov/hiv/data-research/facts-stats/index.html
https://www.amfar.org/about-hiv-aids/hiv-aids-in-the-us/
https://ahead.hiv.gov/
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