Palm Springs HIV supporters navigate uncertainty after federal health agencies are cut

HIV+ Aging Research Project – Jeff Taylor, executive director of Palm Springs (HARP-PS), said Tuesday morning that he woke up torrents of calls and messages from people looking for peace of mind as the Trump administration launched a massive staff news of 10,000 staff from U.S. health agencies, including the FDA, CDC and national research institutes (NIH).

There are also reports of plans to shut down the division of HIV prevention as part of the so-called restructuring. Additionally, the NIH has cancelled hundreds of HIV research grants.

It's no surprise that Taylor received a call that he was worried about. Palm Springs has one of the largest populations of people with HIV in the country. Many people with HIV are also a unique population as they are currently dealing with concerns related to aging.

It is a topic that is the forefront and central to Harp-PS, an organization whose mission is to improve the lives of a large population of long-term HIV and AIDS survivors by studying the effects of long-term HIV disease on the natural aging process and its treatment.

Taylor explains that HARP-PS is a subcontractor of NIH-funded HIV Cure Research Group. NIH funds 10 collaborators and HARP-PS is the community engagement partner for one of these 10 collaborators.

The organization is in its fourth year of a five-year grant, and “those money has already been allocated,” Taylor said. Approximately half of HARP-PS' funding comes from being a partner.

The situation is changing rapidly at a national level, but Taylor said so far he hasn't been told anything is changing.

HARP-PS is responsible for creating community advisory boards related to research, hosting events, webinars and public education campaigns.

“that's why [the funding] “Taylor added that the organization will not be able to do the job and will have to cut employee pay, which will definitely affect us.”

One of the biggest concerns Taylor has heard from locals is how this will affect Ryan White's fundraising.

“I walk around town every day and ask the people in the park. [Ryan White] Taylor said. “People don't know what to do without it.”

Since 1990, the Federal Ryan White HIV/AIDS Program has been 13 years old Those who die after being diagnosed with AIDS after a blood transfusion fund medical care and fund wraparound support services for people with HIV who may otherwise not be able to afford care.

“The majority of that funding is from AIDS drug support programs,” Taylor said. “Aids drug regimens can cost up to $60,000 a year.” The program supports low-income people and covers the costs of all HIV drugs.

Taylor said the program has historically enjoyed bipartisan support and is allocated money through a congressional approved budget.

“There's a good chance that most of these things will be protected,” he said, acknowledging the ongoing uncertainty as the administration established laws and norms.

The HIV research and prevention rollback is contrary to the Trump administration's 2019 goals, ending the HIV epidemic initiative aimed at reducing new HIV infections by 90% by 2030.

One of Taylor and others' biggest concerns is the impact federal cuts have on AIDS prevention.

DAP Health, a local healthcare provider, joined 12 other LGBTQ+, HIV and health organizations across the country last month to condemn the attack on research specific to HIV.

“Closening the CDC's HIV preventive divisions will not only have a devastating impact on the country's progress in preventing new cases of HIV and ending the epidemic,” reads the letter.

Since it was first discovered, AIDS has killed more than 700,000 people in the United States. This explains an estimated 60,000 people are infected per year before the introduction of Pre-Exposure Prevention (PREP).

Still, an estimated 31,800 new infections occurred in the US in 2022, and HIV died of HIV in 2022 as the underlying cause of death.

“We've made incredible progress over the last few years,” Taylor said. “Now we're standing to lose all of that one night.”

“Neither our country nor our backyard can afford the cost of HIV prevention reimbursement (human and financial),” DAP Health CEO David Brinkman added in the letter. “At DAP Health, we will continue to fight for the rights and happiness of those who live with HIV. There is a risk of HIV. We refuse to continue to commit to eradicate HIV by 2030.”

Taylor told anyone worried about the future of HIV services, “You're not crazy. This is very realistic and it's happening all over the place.”

Despite the challenges, HIV advocates are mobilizing. This week, AIDS United took 500 people to Washington, DC for “AIDS Watch,” where they met with lawmakers and defended HIV funding and services.