[HIV+Hep’s] Executive Director Carl Schmid sees a lot of positive proposed funding in the [Labor-Health and Human Services-Education appropriations bill] and is especially excited about the funding for community centers for pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP). “Right now, the last 2 years they [the community centers] have gotten $100 million to increase PrEP activities, and this bill would increase it by another $50 million to focus on PrEP activities,” Schmid said.
Biden’s update to HIV strategy hailed for recognizing racism as a health issue
A recent update to the National HIV Strategy by the Biden administration is getting good reviews from advocates in the fight against HIV/AIDS, who are praising the new blueprint for recognizing challenges in the epidemic and racism as a public health issue. Carl Schmid, executive director of the HIV & Hepatitis Policy Institute and member of the President’s Advisory Council on HIV/AIDS, assessed the update as “very, very positive,” saying it built on components of a previous iteration of the strategy issued during the Trump administration and made new ones.
HIV advocates praise Biden administration’s “refocused” national HIV/AIDS strategy
Carl Schmid, the founder of the HIV+Hepatitis Policy Institute and a member of the Presidential Advisory Council on HIV/AIDS (PACHA), said that while the goals of the Biden administration’s are similar to those of their predecessors, the Biden administration is emphasizing specific planks in its strategy that it believes will be more effective at reaching or engaging certain populations in the hope of curbing new infections. “The last strategic plan was very sound, but there were some missing elements that the Biden administration added to its plan. Some of the missing elements [in the Trump strategy] were any mention of the Affordable Care Act and reliance on expanded Medicaid, because that could really help people living with HIV, particularly in the South,” Schmid says.
The one crisis where Biden is getting high marks
President Joe Biden was elected on the promise of bringing competent leadership to the fight against the coronavirus pandemic. But the new administration inherited more mismanaged public health emergencies than just COVID-19—from opioids and mental health to gun violence and vaccine disinformation. As the HIV/AIDS epidemic enters its fifth decade this year, however, it is Biden’s handling of that crisis that has earned him greatest credit among public health advocates and researchers who often felt isolated and ignored under the previous administration.
Advisors ask White House to expand private sector role in HIV fight
A group of advisors who provide recommendations to the president on issues pertaining to HIV/AIDS is working with the White House to ramp up private sector involvement in efforts to end the epidemic, particularly among organizations and entities that play major roles in healthcare delivery or have a significant base of employees living with HIV/AIDS.