House LHHS Appropriations Bill Harmful to HIV Response and ID Research

HIVMA is deeply concerned by the impact the House Labor, Health and Human Services, and Education bill would have on our ability to respond to the HIV epidemic and other infectious diseases. The bill advanced by the House Appropriations Committee July 10 would withdraw much needed support for public health, infectious diseases research and federal HIV prevention and care programs, putting our nation’s health and health security at risk and reversing gains made in responding to the HIV epidemic.

Threats to Infectious Diseases Research

The bill, if enacted, would significantly compromise National Institutes of Health’s leadership in advancing scientific discoveries critical to preventing and treating infectious diseases by dividing the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases into two separate institutes with significantly reduced funding. The new, proposed National Institute of Infectious Diseases at NIH would be funded at $3.315 billion, which is a $3.247 billion cut compared to NIAID FY2024 funding. Allergy research would be funded in a separate institute. The NIAID restructuring is part of an unvetted House NIH Consolidation proposal currently out for stakeholder comment.

See IDSA’s “House Appropriations Bill Misses the Mark on ID Programs”

Other HIV-Related Funding Cuts

While the bill largely flat funds or reduces funding for HIV-related programs, it includes a much needed $10 million increase in funding for the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s viral hepatitis program and a $6.1 million increase for the CDC infectious diseases and opioids program. Funding cuts to key federal HIV-related programs include the following:

$190 million from the Ryan White HIV/AIDS Program, including the elimination of the SPNS Program and the Ending the HIV Epidemic initiative;
$230 million in cuts to programs within the CDC Division of HIV/AIDS, Viral Hepatitis, Sexually Transmitted Diseases and Tuberculosis Prevention, including the elimination of the EHE initiative, which supports the national PrEP program initiative, and $10 million from the STD prevention program;
Elimination of the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Minority AIDS program;
$15 million from the Minority HIV/AIDS Fund.

What’s Next

The timing for Senate action on FY 2025 funding legislation is uncertain. Final FY 2025 funding bills are not expected to pass until after the November 2024 elections. HIVMA will continue to call for a sustained commitment to funding HIV and ID programs, including infectious diseases research, the EHE initiative and a national PrEP program.