CDC

Over the next few months, congressional appropriation committee leaders will have to hash out spending levels for individual government programs. President Joe Biden’s budget takes an enormous step toward meeting the nation’s goal of ending the HIV epidemic by 2030 through substantially increasing funding for HIV treatment and prevention programs. Some in Congress seem set on slashing spending. And that means domestic HIV funding could be on the chopping block. That’s a tragedy—one that could jeopardize our progress in the fight against the virus.

Imagine if Congress, with one simple action, could help end a 40-year-old epidemic, erase some of the racial inequities in healthcare, and save money in the process. That may sound too good to be true. But lawmakers can do it if they fund expanding access programs to a highly effective HIV drug in the 2023 spending bill.