Biden budget proposes $9.8 billion for national HIV PrEP program

 

• President Biden in his proposed fiscal year 2023 budget promised to funnel additional funds into efforts to combat the nation’s HIV epidemic.
• The budget commits to a 75 percent reduction in HIV infection by 2025 and promises $9.8 billion for a 10-year nationwide PrEP delivery program.
• More than 700,000 Americans have died from HIV since 1981 and an estimated 1.2 million Americans are currently living with HIV, although more than 10 percent of those infected are unaware of their HIV-positive status.

The Biden administration this week pledged to invest additional funds into an existing program to combat the nation’s HIV epidemic, aiming to eradicate the infection that causes AIDS by 2030.

The president in his fiscal year 2023 budget proposal promised an increase of $377 million for the Ending the HIV Epidemic in the U.S. (EHE) initiative, an ambitious plan announced in 2019 seeking to end HIV within the next decade. The budget commits to a 75 percent reduction in HIV infection by 2025.

The budget also calls for the creation of a 10-year $9.8 billion nationwide delivery program for pre-exposure prophylaxis, or PrEP, an HIV prevention drug.

PrEP treatments have been essential in combating the spread of HIV, a sexually-transmitted infection which attacks the body’s immune system. Transmission of HIV can also occur through contact with infected blood by sharing things like needles or syringes.

When taken properly, PrEP is 99 percent effective against sexually-transmitted HIV infections, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, which has also estimated that increased use of PrEP between 2015 and 2019 contributed to an 8 percent decline in new HIV infections in the U.S.

But currently available PrEP treatments can be difficult to keep up with, and those who take PrEP are also required to take quarterly blood tests and schedule frequent appointments with doctors to screen for HIV infection. Access to traditional PrEP treatments is also limited among communities of color and transgender women, reflecting the higher rates of HIV infection within those groups, according to the CDC.

More than 700,000 Americans have died from HIV since 1981, when HIV and AIDS began spreading in the U.S. An estimated 1.2 million Americans are currently living with HIV, according to the EHE, although roughly 13 percent of those infected are unaware of their HIV-positive status.

“It is reassuring that President Biden is following through on his commitment to end HIV in the U.S by calling for increased funding for HIV prevention, care, and treatment programs in targeted jurisdictions with the highest levels of HIV,” Carl Schmid, executive director of the HIV+Hepatitis Policy Institute, said in a statement. “The increases are especially needed after COVID-19 stalled progress and Congress fell short in providing the requested increases for this year.”

Schmid added that any HIV prevention program should bring awareness to the need for additional efforts to address the lack of PrEP uptake in underserved communities.

“Even with the availability of low-cost generic and free daily oral PrEP drugs, uptake has been low due to the lack of community and provider outreach, lab and other medical costs, along with stigma,” he said.

In December, the Food and Drug Administration approved Apretude, the first injectable PrEP treatment. Unlike other PrEP treatments, which are typically once-daily oral medications, Apretude requires only a bi-monthly injection to prevent HIV infection.

https://thehill.com/changing-america/respect/equality/600388-biden-budget-proposes-98-billion-for-national-prep-program