Congress Approves Funding for End the HIV Epidemic Initiative and Other Key HIV Programs

With the final passage of the FY 2020 spending bill, Congress took an important step in funding the administration’s Ending the HIV Epidemic initiative and some other high priority HIV programs but left other important programs under-funded.

The Ending the HIV Epidemic Initiative funding included:  

• A $140 million increase for the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention activities to expand the use of PrEP and develop approaches to better detect and respond to clusters of HIV cases
• An allocation of $50 million in existing funding for Community Health Centers to support outreach, testing, care coordination, and HIV prevention services, including the use of PrEP
• A $70 million increase directed to Parts A and B of the Ryan White HIV/AIDS program to increase treatment for individuals living with HIV and the use of antiretroviral therapy
• A $25 million increase in funding for targeted HIV/AIDS research at the National Institutes of Health
• $6 million for NIH to continue research through Centers for AIDS Research and AIDS Research Centers

The FY 2020 spending package falls short, however, by flat-funding the CDC’s Division of Viral Hepatitis at a time when there is an increase of acute Hepatitis C, an estimated 44,300 cases of which occurred in 2017 alone. The Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration's Minority AIDS Initiative and the Minority HIV/AIDS Fund were also flat-funded, which directly impacts communities that are disproportionately affected by HIV. In addition, the bill failed to fully lift the ban on the use of federal funding to support syringe exchange services, leaving in place a ban on the use of federal funds to purchase sterile syringes and other safe injection supplies and equipment.

HIVMA will continue to urge Congress to provide consistent and sustained federal funding for HIV care and treatment, research and prevention. Read HIVMA’s news release on program funding.