{"id":2974,"date":"2024-06-27T16:01:54","date_gmt":"2024-06-27T16:01:54","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/healthynewsusa.com\/?p=2974"},"modified":"2024-06-27T16:01:54","modified_gmt":"2024-06-27T16:01:54","slug":"federal-budget-constraints-may-hurt-older-americans-with-hiv","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/healthynewsusa.com\/?p=2974","title":{"rendered":"Federal Budget Constraints May Hurt Older Americans With HIV"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Researchers say that by the end of the decade,\u00a070 percent<\/strong>\u00a0of people in the United States living with HIV will be older than 50. Thanks to advances in medicine, the diagnosis is no longer a death sentence.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019ve been fortunate to take care of some people with HIV for over 30 years,\u201d said\u00a0Melanie Thompson<\/strong>, a physician in Atlanta who said she is frequently told by patients, \u201cYou\u2019re my longest relationship.\u201d<\/p>\n

But there\u2019s a catch:<\/strong>\u00a0People living with HIV are at increased risk for other health problems, such as diabetes, depression and heart disease.<\/p>\n

As their health needs increase, more is required of the\u00a0Ryan White HIV\/AIDS Program<\/strong><\/a>, the comprehensive federal system that provides HIV primary medical care, medications and essential support services for low-income people living with the virus.<\/p>\n

But core funding for the national network of clinics hasn\u2019t changed much in the past decade.<\/p>\n

According to\u00a0a KFF analysis<\/a>, inflation-adjusted spending has dropped from a peak in the early 2000s, despite the program serving tens of thousands of new patients.<\/p>\n

Laura Cheever<\/strong>, who oversees the Ryan White program, said budget constraints make it hard to prioritize the needs of older people with HIV, especially when many people with the virus haven\u2019t been diagnosed or aren\u2019t receiving services at all.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen a lot of people aren\u2019t getting care, how do you decide where that next dollar is spent?\u201d Cheever said.<\/p>\n

President Biden<\/strong>\u2019s\u00a0budget request<\/a>\u00a0for fiscal 2025 asks for a funding bump of less than\u00a01 percent<\/strong>\u00a0for the program.<\/p>\n

The latest infusion of funding for Ryan White \u2014 about\u00a0$466 million<\/strong>\u00a0since 2019 \u2014 came as part of a\u00a0federal initiative to end the HIV epidemic<\/a>\u00a0by 2030.<\/p>\n

But that program, launched by the Trump administration in 2019, was targeted by House Republicans last year in\u00a0their push to slash<\/a>\u00a0the budget of the\u00a0Centers for Disease Control and Prevention<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

Their argument? The initiative, launched just a year before the global\u00a0coronavirus<\/a>\u00a0pandemic drew resources and attention from other public health priorities, wasn\u2019t meeting its goal to cut new HIV infections dramatically by 2030.<\/p>\n

Around the same time, Republicans were threatening a different HIV program from a different GOP administration: the\u00a0President\u2019s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief<\/strong>, or\u00a0PEPFAR<\/strong>, launched by\u00a0George W. Bush<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

Republicans held up reauthorizing the program<\/a>, which has helped millions around the world, over rumors its dollars funded abortions.<\/p>\n

Advocates worry these cases signal a larger erosion in bipartisan support for HIV prevention and treatment that threatens to undermine years of progress lowering transmission and mortality rates \u2014 especially if older people with the virus don\u2019t get adequate care.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s tragic and shameful that elderly people with HIV have to go through what they\u2019re going through without getting the proper attention that they deserve,\u201d said\u00a0Jules Levin<\/strong>, executive director of the\u00a0National AIDS Treatment Advocacy Project<\/strong>, who, at age 74, has been living with HIV since the 1980s.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis will be a disaster soon without a solution.\u201d<\/p>\n

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