On June 18, the Food and Drug Administration approved long-acting, injectable injections to prevent HIV, which could have transformative impact on decades of efforts to end the US and overseas epidemic.
Because lenacapavir offers robust protection with two doses per year, it could dramatically improve intake and compliance compared to daily oral preparation regimens, such as Truvada and Descoby, compared to high-risk populations who live in places where stigma on HIV blocks frequent testing and clinical visits.
According to New York TimesHowever, the deployment of the Lenacapaville for HIV prevention overseas was hampered by a disturbance of agencies, staff, programs and funds dedicated to foreign aid and public health during President Donald Trump’s second term.
Among other moves, the administration has frozen or withdrawn nearly all US foreign development aid, dismantled the US International Development Agency, reduced the size of its workforce by more than 95%, and closed major public health units housed under the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, the National Institutes for Disease Control and Prevention, and the FDA.
As a result, the Times reports that HIV programs across the African continent are “hurried to procure drugs once supplied by the US, replace lost nurses and lab technicians, and restart shutter programs to prevent new infections.”
Experts fear that HIV infection rates are rising in some of the hardest countries, but there is no way to know for sure as the US has put in funds to collect and monitor data.
Historically, the United States has provided around 75% of global spending in efforts to combat the epidemic, reflecting the extent of widespread bipartisan support for allocation of resources for this purpose, through programs such as the President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief. Trump continued this legacy in his first term and launched an ambitious end to end the continuing HIV epidemic initiative under former President Joe Biden.
However, after returning to the White House, the president and his administration justified their novel cuts to the federal government’s work in international development and public health by stolen and wasteful funds and resources sent to foreign countries by corrupt foreign actors or wasteful in invalid programs.
Trump and his allies also believe that the US should no longer be expected to take on such a disproportionate share of foreign aid liability, while others believe they are more likely to promote and contribute more in response to the US retreat.
Source: Washington Blade: LGBTQ News, Politics, LGBTQ Rights, Gay News – www.washingtonblade.com
