17 Apr Academy Statement on the Draft FY26 Budget for the Department of Health and Human Services
The Academy has reviewed a draft of the Trump Administration’s Fiscal Year (FY) 2026 budget for the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) that was recently leaked to media outlets. The proposed budget includes extensive cuts to our nation’s public health infrastructure and explicitly eliminates funding for the Ending the HIV Epidemic initiative, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s Division of HIV Prevention, and Part F of the Ryan White HIV/AIDS Program. The Academy is vehemently opposed to the elimination of any of these programs and many more that are included in the draft FY26 budget.
“Phasing out the Ending the HIV Epidemic initiative will essentially erase all of the gains we’ve made since 2019 and, worse, will set us back in ending HIV,” says Bruce J. Packett II, the executive director of the American Academy of HIV Medicine. “This proposed budget would be disastrous to public health and would create great harm to those with HIV and those most at risk of HIV.”
The draft budget outlines broad cuts to a range of programs and divisions within the HHS. In addition to those mentioned above, cuts would also include the elimination of the Minority AIDS Initiative funding in both the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) and the Secretary’s Minority AIDS Initiative Fund, the Ryan White Dental Program, and funding for the AIDS Education and Training Centers. As well, many programs within SAMHSA will be eliminated; these are important programs that help address the HIV, substance use, and mental health syndemics. The proposed budget is an assault on public health and would result in widespread illness, especially in the most vulnerable populations.