NMAC Condemns Elimination of Federal HIV Programs, Urges Congress and the White House to Reverse Devastating Cuts

WASHINGTON, DC, UNITED STATES, April 1, 2025 /EINPresswire.com/ -- NMAC (formerly the National Minority AIDS Council) strongly condemns the sweeping elimination of key HIV prevention and public health infrastructure at the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). The cuts — which have already gone into effect — dismantled essential, bipartisan federal programs that have been the backbone of the national response to HIV, vaccine education, and ensuring that all Americans have access to critical care.

As part of a broad restructuring ordered by HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., the entire staff of the Office of Infectious Disease and HIV/AIDS Policy (OIDP) has been laid off. The Office of Minority Health has been dissolved, and major HIV prevention programs at the CDC have been slashed, forcing state and local health departments, community-based organizations, to severely curtail and in some cases eliminate services in the most underserved communities.

“These devastating cuts represent a profound betrayal of the communities most impacted by HIV,” said Paul Kawata, Executive Director of NMAC. “Eliminating these offices and programs is not reform. It is a rollback of civil rights, public health, and decades of bipartisan progress in the fight to end the HIV epidemic.”

OIDP led major initiatives such as President Trumps’ Ending the HIV Epidemic in the U.S., the National Vaccine Program, and the "Let’s Get Real" vaccine education campaign, all of which are now in jeopardy. The CDC’s HIV prevention efforts, which provide critical surveillance, technical assistance, and direct funding to the field, have also been severely cut.

“These decisions were made behind closed doors, with no input from impacted communities, no transparency, and no clear plan to preserve the services people rely on,” Kawata said. “It’s unconscionable.”

The restructuring is part of the creation of a new agency — the Administration for a Healthy America (AHA) — that is being rushed into existence with no public accountability. NMAC is gravely concerned that the rapid implementation of this agency will further endanger HIV prevention, vaccine access, and minority health programs. Not only is this a repudiation of the thousands of people in communities in need of services, but it also grossly undermines the mission DOGE’s own purported mission – efficiency and cost-cutting. There is no better way to save money in public health than prevention. By eliminating critical prevention services to those most in need, DOGE is undermining its own stated goals.

NMAC calls on Congress and the White House to:
• Recommit to the Ending the HIV Epidemic imitative to end HIV by 2030
• Immediately reverse these harmful cuts and reinstate funding and staff to OIDP, the Office of Minority Health, and CDC HIV programs;
• Halt the launch of the AHA until public oversight mechanisms are in place and essential services are guaranteed;
• Convene emergency oversight hearings to investigate the decision-making behind these cuts and assess their impact on the nation’s public health.

“The federal government has turned its back on communities living with and at risk for HIV,” Kawata said. “We cannot accept this. The time to act is now.”

NMAC urges every person affected by these cuts — and every ally in the fight for health equity — to contact their members of Congress and demand immediate intervention.

Pavni Guharoy
NMAC
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