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- Eleven authors are physicians and/or researchers who are experts in HIV. Scroll to read the name.
Tennessee’s decision to withdraw $9 million in federal funding for Tennessee’s HIV program draws attention to an infectious disease in which science has come a long way in the past 40 years.
HIV infection, once a deadly disease worldwide, is now a treatable chronic disease. When an HIV-positive person has the proper treatment, the level of the virus in their blood becomes undetectable and they do not transmit the virus to others.
There are also safe and effective drugs that can prevent someone from contracting HIV if they are at risk (also known as pre-exposure prophylaxis or PrEP).
With these incredible scientific advances, we have the tools to stop HIV transmission and end the HIV epidemic in the United States.
This progress is a stark reminder why our commitment to public health funding of HIV is critical to our individual and collective well-being.
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Fight HIV around the world. The United States is bipartisan.
The importance of addressing public health and expanding the use of these therapeutic and preventive tools was recognized by previous presidential administrations.
In 2003, the George W. Bush administration launched the United States President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR), which offers the largest financial commitment of any country to combat a single disease in the world. bottom.
In 2019, the Trump administration launched Ending the HIV Epidemic: A Plan for America. This called for a focus on US counties with more than half of new HIV infections in the US, including Shelby County, Tennessee.
These bipartisan programs will dramatically reduce the number of people diagnosed with HIV, increase life expectancy and quality of life for those living with HIV, and virtually eliminate mother-to-child transmission in the United States and Tennessee. brought.
These successes are made possible by federal, state, and local public health infrastructure working in partnership with community-based organizations that have years of experience, deep institutional knowledge, and the trust of the communities they serve. became.
These are the same community-based organizations we turned to during the COVID-19 pandemic, and we may need to call upon them again for future public health emergencies.
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We must continue to work with our federal partners
Despite these successes, much more needs to be done to end the HIV epidemic in the United States and Tennessee.
Everyone at risk for HIV should be tested and know their status.
We must also ensure that everyone diagnosed with HIV has access to prompt and affordable treatment, and that everyone at risk of HIV has access to PrEP.
Importantly, communities disproportionately affected by HIV must receive equitable HIV services.
To achieve these goals, public health and community-based organizations must work together with federal partners in the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services and scientific partners at academic institutions to effectively deploy HIV treatment and prevention tools. We need continuous strong support. .
As HIV practitioners and researchers, we can attest to the effectiveness and impact of these programs.
We must continue to fully support these public health and community-based organizations that have a history of successfully providing life-saving HIV treatment and prevention services to communities in need.
These long-standing relationships of trust between public health agencies, community-based organizations, and the people they serve have taken years to build.
Without continued support, hard-won progress toward ending the HIV epidemic in the United States and Tennessee is in danger of being undone.
All authors live in Nashville: April C. Pettit, MD, MPH, MD; Aima Ahonkhai, MD, MPH, Physician; Carolyn Audet, Ph.D, MSci, Implementation Scientist; Dr. L. Lauren Brown, LCSW, Social Worker; Dr. Christian Chandler, Public Health Scientist; Kelly E. Dooley, MD, Ph.D., M.D.; David W. Haas, MD, M.D.; Sean G. Kelly, MD, MD; Simon Mallal, MBBS, Doctor; Anna K. Person, MD, Physician; Peter F. Rebeiro, Ph.D., MHS, Epidemiologist and Biostatistician
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