Confirmation of Tom Price as Secretary of Health and Human Services

Statement of the Chair of the HIV Medicine Association Wendy Armstrong, MD, FIDSA:

The HIV Medicine Association is committed to working with incoming Department of Health and Human Services Secretary Tom Price to continue the progress this country has made against HIV at home and globally. We encourage him to ensure that all Americans have access to the primary health care that is essential to the prevention and treatment of disease, including HIV, and that all people living with HIV have access to the care and treatment necessary to live healthy, productive lives and to prevent HIV transmission to others. As a physician, Dr. Price knows that the gains we have made against the domestic HIV epidemic over the last three and a half decades are substantial but fragile. While many Americans have attained health insurance coverage for the first time in the last few years, Secretary Price will face the task of ensuring continuous and consistent healthcare coverage that provides affordable medical services to all Americans. As a physician who has worked at a safety net hospital, Dr. Price knows that in a public health crisis like HIV, interruptions in treatment lead not only to disease progression and death, but also to increased numbers of new infections. While HIV research has resulted in effective treatment and biomedical prevention interventions and contributed to fighting other diseases, including hepatitis C, Zika and Ebola, sustaining a robust research program is critical to continuing progress against the HIV epidemic and toward finding a cure. We stand ready to provide our insights and input toward our common goal of eliminating HIV as a public health threat.

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The HIV Medicine Association (HIVMA) is the professional home for more than 5,000 physicians, scientists, and other health care professionals dedicated to the field of HIV/AIDS. Nested within the Infectious Diseases Society of America (IDSA), HIVMA promotes quality in HIV care and advocates policies that ensure a comprehensive and humane response to the AIDS pandemic informed by science and social justice. For more information, visit www.hivma.org.