{"id":73402,"date":"2025-06-06T16:45:12","date_gmt":"2025-06-06T23:45:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lapost.us\/?p=73402"},"modified":"2025-06-06T16:45:12","modified_gmt":"2025-06-06T23:45:12","slug":"will-congress-reauthorize-worlds-best-hiv-aids-prevention-and-treatment-program","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lapost.us\/?p=73402","title":{"rendered":"Will Congress Reauthorize World\u2019s Best HIV\/AIDS Prevention and Treatment Program?"},"content":{"rendered":"<div class=\"td_block_wrap tdb_single_author tdi_65 td-pb-border-top td_block_template_1 tdb-post-meta\" data-td-block-uid=\"tdi_65\">\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\">\n<div class=\"tdb-author-name-wrap\"><span class=\"tdb-author-by\">By<\/span><a class=\"tdb-author-name\" href=\"https:\/\/americancommunitymedia.org\/author\/sunita\/\">Sunita Sohrabji<\/a><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"td_block_wrap tdb_single_date tdi_66 td-pb-border-top td_block_template_1 tdb-post-meta\" data-td-block-uid=\"tdi_66\">\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><i class=\"tdb-date-icon tdc-font-fa tdc-font-fa-calendar\"><\/i><time class=\"entry-date updated td-module-date\" datetime=\"2025-06-05T10:45:01-07:00\">Jun 5, 2025<\/time><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"td_block_wrap tdb_single_subtitle tdi_67 td-pb-border-top td_block_template_1\" data-td-block-uid=\"tdi_67\">\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\">\n<p>PEPFAR \u2014 the President\u2019s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief \u2014 has saved more than 26 million lives around the world since its creation in 2003 by President George Bush. However, Congress has not yet reauthorized the program this year.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"td_block_wrap tdb_single_featured_image tdi_68 tdb-content-horiz-left td-pb-border-top td_block_template_1\" data-td-block-uid=\"tdi_68\">\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\">\n<figure><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"entry-thumb td-animation-stack-type0-2\" title=\"Ghana HIV\" src=\"https:\/\/americancommunitymedia.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/Ghana-HIV.jpg\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1200px) 100vw, 1200px\" srcset=\"https:\/\/americancommunitymedia.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/Ghana-HIV.jpg 1200w, https:\/\/americancommunitymedia.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/Ghana-HIV-300x200.jpg 300w, https:\/\/americancommunitymedia.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/Ghana-HIV-1024x683.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/americancommunitymedia.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/Ghana-HIV-768x512.jpg 768w, https:\/\/americancommunitymedia.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/Ghana-HIV-150x100.jpg 150w, https:\/\/americancommunitymedia.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/Ghana-HIV-696x464.jpg 696w, https:\/\/americancommunitymedia.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/Ghana-HIV-1068x712.jpg 1068w\" alt=\"\" width=\"1200\" height=\"800\" \/><figcaption class=\"tdb-caption-text\">(Canva image)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"td_block_wrap tdb_single_content tdi_69 td-pb-border-top td_block_template_1 td-post-content tagdiv-type\" data-td-block-uid=\"tdi_69\">\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\">\n<p>The President\u2019s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief \u2014 PEPFAR \u2014 credited with saving more than 26 million lives around the world, is facing an uncertain future as Congress has failed to reauthorize it this year.<\/p>\n<p>PEPFAR, established in 2003 by President George W. Bush, is widely regarded as one of the world\u2019s most successful public health programs. PEPFAR provides antiretroviral treatment to those affected with HIV\/AIDS. It also offers prevention programs to 50 countries around the world. Thus far, the US has invested about $100 billion in PEPFAR.<\/p>\n<p>The program\u2019s authorization expired on March 25; to date, Congress has not reauthorized the program. Nonetheless, $7.1 billion has been allocated for FY 2024, which ends on Sept. 30.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cAntiretroviral therapy \u2014 ART \u2014 is simple, it\u2019s powerful, it\u2019s transformative,\u201d said Dr. Jirair Ratevosian, Associate Research Scientist at Yale. The once-daily pill suppresses the virus and stops HIV transmission, he explained at an American Community Media news briefing May 30.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cPeople on treatment not only live longer, they actually don\u2019t pass HIV. So treatment in some ways is actually prevention,\u201d said Ratevosian. \u201cBut here\u2019s the catch: treatment only works if it\u2019s uninterrupted.\u201d When treatment is stopped, the person is no longer biologically suppressed: they can then transmit their infection, putting those around them at risk, he explained.<\/p>\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed wp-embed-aspect-16-9 wp-has-aspect-ratio  is-type-video is-provider-youtube wp-block-embed-youtube\">\n<div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper video-seo-youtube-embed-wrapper\">\n<div class=\"video-seo-youtube-player\" data-id=\"M6Zf57jawGg\">\n<div class=\"video-seo-youtube-embed-loader\" tabindex=\"0\" role=\"button\" data-id=\"M6Zf57jawGg\" aria-label=\"Load YouTube video\"><picture class=\"video-seo-youtube-picture\"><source class=\"video-seo-source-to-maybe-replace\" srcset=\"https:\/\/i.ytimg.com\/vi\/M6Zf57jawGg\/maxresdefault.jpg\" media=\"(min-width: 801px)\" \/><source class=\"video-seo-source-hq\" srcset=\"https:\/\/i.ytimg.com\/vi\/M6Zf57jawGg\/hqdefault.jpg\" media=\"(max-width: 800px)\" \/><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"td-animation-stack-type0-2\" src=\"https:\/\/i.ytimg.com\/vi\/M6Zf57jawGg\/hqdefault.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"480\" height=\"360\" \/><\/picture>\n<div class=\"video-seo-youtube-player-play\"><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/figure>\n<h2 id=\"h-100-000-deaths\" class=\"wp-block-heading\">100,000 Deaths<\/h2>\n<p>Earlier this year, the Trump Administration placed a 90-day pause on all foreign aid, including funding for PEPFAR. The impact of that pause was devastating. \u201cThere were significant disruptions in people\u2019s access to treatment, including several clinic closures in many parts of the world. The waiver also excluded support for HIV prevention programs that are the very backbone of epidemic control,\u201d said Ratevosian.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cOur team did an assessment of what this 90-day pause on foreign assistance for HIV could look like. We have published a study to show that up to 100,000 preventative deaths would occur in just one year due to this 90-day pause, and that was a conservative estimate.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201dSubsequent modeling and studies have confirmed that these disruptions are likely to remove thousands of people from treatment regimens that exist around the world. Tens of thousands of new infections would be caused because people were undetected and untreated. This is not hypothetical. It\u2019s actually an unfolding reality now,\u201d said Ratevosian.<\/p>\n<h2 id=\"h-11-million-new-hiv-infections\" class=\"wp-block-heading\">11 Million New HIV Infections<\/h2>\n<p>\u201cEnding PEPFAR could result in up to 11 million additional new HIV infections and 3 million additional deaths by 2030. And that\u2019s just a subset of PEPFAR countries that were studied as part of this analysis. So we\u2019re urging Congress to act quickly to reauthorize PEPFAR, because delays and policy delays can lead to more lives being disrupted and more lives being lost,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n<p>The researcher noted that the push for reauthorization has re-energized the HIV\/AIDS movement. \u201cThis is happening in a way that we haven\u2019t seen since the 1980s. HIV activists are disrupting Congressional hearings, protesting, and marching to the State Department. It makes me very optimistic,\u201d said Ratevosian.<\/p>\n<p>Concurrently, the National Institutes of Health has terminated at least 145 grants worth $450 million related to HIV and AIDS research, including vaccine research. In the 42 years since the illness was first identified, no vaccine has been brought to market, though several significant trials are underway.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>BySunita Sohrabji Jun 5, 2025 PEPFAR&#46;&#46;&#46;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[16,9],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-73402","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-health","category-opinion"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lapost.us\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/73402","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lapost.us\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lapost.us\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lapost.us\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lapost.us\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=73402"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/lapost.us\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/73402\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":73403,"href":"https:\/\/lapost.us\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/73402\/revisions\/73403"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lapost.us\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=73402"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lapost.us\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=73402"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lapost.us\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=73402"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}