The Trump administration cut $600 million in funding for HIV and sexually transmitted disease prevention in 4 states.
The administration cut grants for CDC programs supporting HIV and STD prevention and HIV surveillance.
The funding cuts will affect minority communities in California, Colorado, Illinois and Minnesota.
A spokesperson for the Trump administration said, “These grants are being terminated because they do not reflect agency priorities.”
Americans in those 4 states are urged to practice safe sex through abstinence.
Health officials say the funding cuts will impact Black women the most.
“Black women in Illinois are 16 times more likely to be diagnosed with HIV than their white counterparts,” said John Peller, president and CEO of AIDS Foundation Chicago.
He said the funding cuts couldn’t come at a worse time. About 800 people a year are newly diagnosed with HIV in Chicago.
“It makes tremendous sense to be investing in HIV prevention programs if the concern is about saving money,” Peller said.
Lurie Children’s Hospital in Chicago will be hardest hit by the cuts. The hospital runs a program that aims to prevent HIV/AIDS among Black women.
“We conduct all of our research to improve the lives of children, adolescents and families,” a spokesperson for Lurie said Tuesday.
The funding cuts come weeks after the Department of Health and Human Services moved to end $10 billion in social services and child care funding to the same four states plus New York, alleging the money is being misspent.
