Trump failing to lead on HIV, advocates say on World AIDS Day

Source: nbc



by Dartunorro Clark / Dec.01.2017 / 2:28 PM ET


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Critics have expressed concern that Trump's executive actions on health care (and his support for failed GOP measures to replace the law) are indicative of his administration's indifference to combating HIV/AIDS, especially in comparison to his predecessors. Others, however, say they're withholding judgment as federal agencies like the Department of Health and Human Services, the National Institutes of Health and Centers for Disease Control and Prevention continue critical work.

Scott Schoettes, HIV Project Director at Lambda Legal and one of six members who resigned in protest from the Presidential Advisory Council on HIV/AIDS in June, said Trump has consistently failed to lead on the issue.

"I don’t think anyone at the White House is paying attention to this," Schoettes, who is HIV-positive, told NBC News. "The HIV crisis and epidemic has not disappeared, it just disappeared from public view."

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More than 10 months into his first term, Trump has yet to appoint an HIV/AIDS czar, making him the first president without one since President Bill Clinton created the position in 1993. Trump has not appointed someone to lead the White House Office of National AIDS Policy, and the office's informational page on the White House website is blank. Ten members remain on the Presidential Advisory Council, which Clinton also created in 1995, and its first and only meeting happened in August. The committee sent a letter to former HHS Secretary Tom Price warning him that repealing Obamacare would cause "catastrophic damage" to HIV prevention.
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Read more: https://www.nbcnews.com/feature/nbc-out/trump-failing-lead-hiv-advocates-say-world-aids-day-n824961

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