Trump makes sweeping HIV research and grant cuts: ‘setting us back decades’ | Trump administration

The federal government canceled dozens of grants to study how to prevent new Human immunotherapy virus Scientists say that infections, expanding access to care, and breaking up progress towards eliminating the epidemic in the United States.

Over the course of last month, it was more than 300 research projects funded by the National Health Institutes (NIH) I finish 65 of them were specifically linked to the search for developments in the care of HIV. Some scientists were recently notified of funding last Thursday. NIH, a section of the Ministry of Health and Humanitarian Services, is the largest source of funding for medical research in the world, leaving many scientists to scramble to learn how to continue their work.

“The loss of this research may lead to the return of HIV that becomes more generalized in this country,” said Julia Marcos, a professor at Harvard University College of Medicine. “These sharp cuts destroy the infrastructure of scientific research in this country and we will lose a generation of scientists.”

In 2012, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) agreed to prevent exposure before exposure (Prep), an antiviral drug that is taken once a day very successful in preventing new HIV infections. Although the drug was a powerful tool for containing the virus, inequality remains to reach these medications and maintain a daily treatment. Despite great progress, there are still 30,000 new infections every year in the United States.

Several studies related to HIV have focused on improving access to medicines such as preparatory in societies that have higher rates of infection-including transit women and black men. One of Marcus’s projects was to examine whether to make preparation available via the meter would increase the use of the drug in weak societies.

Marcus said: “The research must focus on the most affected population in order to have an impact and be related,” Marcus said.

However, this may be the justification for calming many studies related to HIV. “The so -called diversity and studies of stock and integration (Dei) is often used to support illegal discrimination based on race and other protected properties, which harm the health of Americans.”

National institutes for health She did not expand the reason for finishing grants in response to questions from the guardian. In a statement, he said that “taking measures to end research financing is not in line with the priorities of the National Health Institutes and HHS. We are still devoted to restoring our agency for its traditions of supporting the gold -based flag.”

Several researchers have been left surprised by the cancellation volume since 2019, Donald Trump Declare In its case, the Union addresses a commitment to eliminating the HIV in the country over the next ten years. As part of this initiative, for him administration I negotiated a deal with pharmaceutical companies to provide free preparatory preparatory for 200,000 low income patients.

“The scientific breakthroughs have achieved a dream.” Trump said in his speech. “We will together defeat AIDS in America.”

Amy Nun, a professor at the College of Public Health at the University of Brown, said that she has allocated grant proposals to suit the political goals of the initiative, which included geographically targeting efforts to prevent HIV. One of its studies, which were completed last week, focuses on closing the contrasts in the use of preparatory among American -descent American men in Jackson, Mississippi.

“They finally adopted these policies at the federal level,” Nun said, noting that Trump was the first president to make ending the epidemic priority. “Now they reduce their own successes. It’s very strange.”

The total amount of the funds of the National Health Institutes allocated to support grants of $ 65 was 35 million dollars. The cancellation of grants will not recover all this money for management, as many of their years are in their work. Some are already finished.

Nathaniel Ulbright learned last Tuesday that a grant of national health institutes that support doctoral research was canceled, although his project had already been completed. PhD candidate at Ohio State University, Ulbright defends his thesis at the end of the month. However, Ulbright is anxious how cuts affect the future of the field.

“An environment has been created in the academic circles where my research path is now a high risk of institutions,” said Ulbright, who is currently fighting to find post -PhD positions at universities.

Bamina Gorbach, an epidemic specialist at the University of California, Los Angeles, was following hundreds of men living with HIV in Los Angeles for 10 years to learn their needs. She received a grant from the National Health Institutes to facilitate her treatment better through a local clinic. Its funding was also canceled last week.

Gorbach said: “It is a really devastating matter,” Gorbach said. “If you live with HIV and you are not in a mud, you know what happens? You are sick and die.”

Gorbakh said the clinic staff in Los Angeles is likely to be demobilized as a result of discounts. Others agreed to one of the instant concerns is how to pay the research employees, as the money is frozen from the grant immediately once it is finished. The National Health Institutes Funds often constitute part of the salaries of the university professor at least, all of whom said they are very concerned about affecting services for their patients and the loss of progress towards ending the epidemic.

“This erases a full group of people who were affected by a contagious disease,” said Irene Kahil, Director of the Sexual and Health Center at the University of Michigan, who lost a scholarship in the National Institutes of Health last week. She added that giving up a full category of disease of the research will have endless effects in the direction of the estuary on the rest of the health care.

“This brings us back decades,” he said.