Fears are growing that the trump administration may eliminate all funding for the Centers for disease control and prevention’s HIV prevention program. Last week the U.S. government canceled nearly 70 LGBTQ health grants to 46 institutions totaling nearly $40 million when awarded.
Those decisions are likely to have a big impact in Louisiana which has the 4th highest HIV diagnosis rate in the country. Carl Schmid is the executive director of the HIV+Hepatitis Policy Institute. He tells Red River Radio News that right now the U.S. sees 32,000 new HIV infections every year. “It’s just going to lead to more infection, more lives turned upside down, more families turned upside down, more HIV in the community which then just leads to more infections.”
And now comes word that the country’s LGBTQ research field overall is in freefall. The National Institutes of Health (NIH) has cancelled more than 270 grants totaling at least $125 million of unspent funds. The cancellations have led to a strong pushback. According to a release by the ACLU of Massachusetts, researchers, along with American Public Health Association (APHA), the International Union, United Automobile, Aerospace and Agricultural Implement Workers of America (UAW), and Ibis Reproductive Health filed a lawsuit challenging the abrupt cancellation of research grants by the National Institutes of Health (NIH).
The NIH is considered the world’s largest public funder of biomedical research. The ACLU statement claims, “The grants were cancelled after NIH staff were directed to eliminate research on disfavored topics and populations without clear guidance or justification – jeopardizing critical medical discoveries that drive advancements in diagnosing, preventing, and treating life-threatening diseases.”
