U. S. White House Document Announces Massive Cut To AIDS Research

According to a new White House document distributed to congressional appropriators, Trump is calling for a $1.23 billion reduction in funding to the National Institutes of Health, a major biomedical research facility under the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS).

Of that $1.23 billion, the hardest hit program would be a $300 million cut to the President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR), which strives to end HIV/AIDS and treat those affected by the disease.

A global action to support people with HIV and AIDS, known as PEPFAR and heavily focused on patient therapy in Africa, would be slashed by almost $300 million under the plan, Bloomberg reports.

The thrifts would be found by slowing the rate of new patients put on treatment and reducing support to “low-performing countries.” U. S. also would face a $50 million cut that would target “less efficient HIV research and prevention activities.”

U. S. President Donald Trump has already proposed cutting biomedical research at the NIH by $5.8 billion next fiscal year, or about 18 percent below 2017 levels. The Office of Management and Budget called the change “a major reorganisation of NIH’s institutes and centres to help focus resources on the highest priority research and training activities.” The Trump administration is requesting $65.1 billion for the Department of Health and Human Services in fiscal 2018, down from $84.6 billion in 2016.