Bay Area HIV/AIDS expert sounds alarm on Trump's foreign aid cuts; threatens HIV prevention programs
UNAIDS warns more than six million people could die from HIV/AIDS in the next four years if funding is pulled
SAN FRANCISCO (KGO) -- As President Trump's push to shut down foreign aid continues, the world's top HIV/AIDS researchers including here in the Bay Area are sounding the alarm.
"It's only been stopped for two weeks and already people are not getting their medications," said Dr. Monica Gandhi, director of the UCSF Center for AIDS Research. "There is a model that every nine minutes, a child is dying because of these cuts. Right now."
The UNAIDS Agency is warning more than six million people could die from HIV and AIDS in the next four years if the U.S. pulls its funding programs.
"Not preventing HIV in key populations will lead to a fueling of the epidemic- it will go forward," said Dr. Gandhi.
It's an epidemic she and others played a key role in quelling more than 20 years ago when the United States became a world leader in the fight against HIV/AIDS. Under George W. Bush it launched PEPFAR, the largest commitment made by a nation to combat a single disease.
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And, Dr. Gandhi says turning on that commitment, puts people right here at risk, too. "People here would be impacted because anything where a a lot of transmission is occurring because you've stopped people from doing well on meds means we will get cases here."
"As we've seen with COVID and pox and with bird flu and with the seasonal flu diseases do not respect national borders," said State Senator Scott Wiener, who this week helped introduce a bill that would require health insurance companies to cover PrEP, a highly effective medication that helps block HIV. "I'm very lucky. I've been taking PrEP for more than 10 years. A daily pill that almost entirely eliminates your risk of HIV."
Meanwhile, Dr. Gandhi says the message is clear:
"These completely cruel and unnecessary cuts on life-saving global programs that were started in a bipartisan manner have to stop," said Dr. Gandhi.
