Recent changes in federal funding are sending shockwaves through the HIV world. Many worry that these cuts will pause the progress that has been made to end this pandemic and open the door to an increase in new infections.
The Medical Community Responds
The American Academy of HIV Medicine has made a firm statement concerning cuts to federal spending within the Department of Health and Human Services. This is a serious situation that will ultimately affect all Americans.
“Destroying federal public health infrastructure will be detrimental to the health of all Americans, and especially devastating to communities impacted by HIV,” says Bruce J. Packett, II, AAHIVM executive director. “From a halting of advances in new HIV prevention and treatment medications, to the wholesale dismantling of federal HIV and STI infrastructure that coordinates with states, local health departments, community clinics and other HIV service providers, to the inability to track localized outbreaks in real time, the devastating outcomes of this week’s actions cannot be understated.” Read the full article from HIV Specialist (page 5) HERE.
“A Dollar Means a Lot”
Abeba was from Ethiopia. She approached our booth and we asked her to take our “Booth Quiz”. This is our way of getting people to come close to chat with us. You can read more about our Quiz on pages 4 and 5. When Abeba came to our questions about PEPFAR, she paused and told us that she had worked for USAID, the agency responsible for distributing foreign aid and leading international humanitarian and development efforts abroad. “One day”, she said, “our computers didn’t work and the next day we were all fired.”Then she said, “A dollar means a lot”. Tearfully she explained that a dollar of US foreign aid means a lot to countries like hers and that the world depends on foreign aid from the United States. “What happened?”, she said, “people will die.”
You can read the shutdown notification currently on the USAID website HERE.
PEPFAR
The President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief was established in 2003. This was an initiative of President George W. Bush to provide life saving care for people overseas, particularly in Africa. PEPFAR has always enjoyed bipartisan support since its inception. According to the U.S. Department of State, PEPFAR is credited with having saved 25 million lives and enabling 5.5 million babies to be born without HIV infection [https://www.state.gov/results-and-impact-pepfar]. Yet the sudden cessation of PEPFAR funding likely results in tens of thousands of HIV deaths and new infections.
HIV Prevention
HIV Prevention takes many forms from condom distribution, HIV preventative drugs (called PrEP), HIV testing, education, safe syringe exchange, counseling, and case management. Samaritan Ministry is involved specifically in two aspects of HIV prevention.
Condom Distribution – We offer condoms at all of our testing events. These are obtained through several avenues where we can obtain condoms for free. The State of Tennessee ended access to free condoms for Community Based Organization on May 31.
HIV and Hepatitis C Testing – Since 2011, Samaritan has been a leading provider of Point-of-Care testing for HIV and hepatitis C. Using rapid tests from the OraSure platform, we have provided thousands of tests in the greater Knoxville area. In 2024 we provided over 375 HIV tests (1% positivity rate) and 340 hepatitis C tests (35% positivity rate). One of the clearest and most profound aspects of HIV prevention is identifying those people who are living with HIV but are unaware of their infection. Education is an important part of the testing program and, for those testing positive, a linkage to HIV care. HIV care and treatment has two amazing outcomes. First, a person who successfully takes their HIV medications will remain healthy and never get AIDS. Second, successful HIV treatment makes it impossible to spread HIV to another person with sexual contact.
Our Mission Statement addresses the relationship between HIV and hepatitis C.
“We recognize the importance of our engagement with the concurrent epidemics of Hepatitis C and the Opioid Crisis as they negatively impact the ongoing efforts to eliminate new HIV cases in our community.”
Testing Demonstration at USCHA
In collaboration with our friends at OraSure Technologies, we provided a demonstration platform for testing at USCHA. Using the OraSure group of rapid tests, [OraQuick Rapid HIV, OraQuick Rapid HCV (hepatitis C), and Syphilis Health Check] it is possible to run all three tests with a single finger prick, and to provide results in 20 minutes. “One stick – three tests.”