FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Doctors for America
PO Box: 21161
2300 18th St NW Lbby
Washington, DC 20009-9996
December 1, 2025
Doctors for America Commemorate World AIDS Day 2025
WASHINGTON, D.C. – Doctors for America stands with our patients, communities, and fellow advocates to commemorate World AIDS Day 2025. Incredible scientific and medical advancements over the past four decades have revolutionized care for people living with HIV. Likewise, the approval of lenacapavir – a twice-yearly injectable medication – for the prevention of HIV (e.g. preexposure prophylaxis [PrEP]) ignited new hope for HIV elimination efforts. However, domestic and global health funding cuts, in addition to cuts to HIV research, threaten the progress we have made in HIV care and prevention. The decision by the U.S. federal government to not commemorate World AIDS Day 2025 is deeply troubling. We call on leaders in the U.S. and across the world to recommit funding for medical care and research, to invest in HIV prevention, to expand access to care, and to work with communities to overcome stigma and barriers to care.
The human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) is a chronic viral infection that impacts 1.2 million Americans and 40 million children and adults globally. In the U.S., there are more than 30,000 new diagnoses each year, with a disproportionate burden on Black and Latinx communities. Stigma and discrimination are ongoing barriers to HIV prevention and treatment. The U=U (Undetectable = Untransmittable) public health campaign has been a critical individual- and population-level intervention that conveys the simple and lifesaving message that “A person living with HIV who is on treatment and maintains an undetectable viral load has zero risk of transmitting HIV to their sexual partners.”
The current administration has led a string of attacks on funding for HIV prevention, access to lifesaving treatment, awareness and public health response. Funding cuts across domestic HIV prevention and treatment services, global health initiatives, and research have already had devastating impacts and left millions of people across the world vulnerable to infection and at increased risk of illness and death. In the U.S., the FY 2026 Labor, Health and Human Services funding bill released by the House LHHS Appropriations Subcommittee in September proposed to cut nearly $2 billion from federal HIV programs, including the elimination of all HIV prevention in the United States by defunding the Early Intervention Program and the Ending the HIV Epidemic initiative, the latter of which was a highly successful initiative that President Trump started. Federal programs are essential for providing access to HIV care. Over 500,000 people living with HIV in the U.S. rely on programs such as the Ryan White Program for lifesaving medications and care, and 40% of people living with HIV rely on Medicaid. Over 5,000 people in the U.S. still die from AIDS-related causes every year — cuts will only increase those deaths. Cuts will also diminish access to HIV PrEP, medication which has been shown to be extremely effective at preventing transmission of HIV infection. These cuts are not worth the cost of human life.
Researchers predict that ending federal funding for the Ryan White Program could lead to a 49% increase in new HIV infections across 31 US cities over the next 5 years. 90% of funding from President Trump’s Ending the HIV Epidemic initiative goes to state and local health departments. These cuts will most severely impact southern states, which do not have dedicated state funding and already carry the greatest burden of new HIV diagnoses and death.
Investment in HIV programs are cost effective; every dollar invested saves the healthcare system $3-$7 in future treatment costs. Treating a single person living with HIV infection costs about $500,000 in lifetime healthcare expenses. An additional 2,000 cases would add $1 billion in annual costs — wiping out any savings these cuts might bring. Ending the HIV epidemic requires well-funded evidence-based solutions such as access to PrEP, funding Ryan White clinics, and public health education initiatives.
HIV programs have more than 35 years of bipartisan support and been exceptionally successful.. The creation of the President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR) by President George W. Bush in 2003 has saved 25 million lives globally. The Ending the HIV Epidemic initiative has resulted in a 21% reduction in new HIV infections since 2017 in America’s most highly affected jurisdictions.
Silence = Death. We cannot stay silent, and we cannot lose the incredible progress we have made. Doctors for America calls on Congress and healthcare leaders across the world to commit to fully fund HIV treatment, prevention, and research initiatives.
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About Doctors for America
Doctors for America (DFA) is a national nonprofit that mobilizes over 40,000 physicians and medical trainees to advocate for policies that improve the health of patients and communities. Through advocacy training and action at the state and federal levels, DFA works to expand access to affordable care, strengthen community health and prevention efforts, and advance health justice and equity. We do not accept funding from pharmaceutical, insurance, or for-profit health care entities, ensuring our work remains fiercely independent and patient-centered. DFA puts patients over politics—and over profits. Find out more at doctorsforamerica.org and on Twitter drsforamerica or Bluesky drsforamerica.bsky.social.