AVAC and FAPP Written Statement: US Senate Hearing on Biomedical Research

AVAC and FAPP submitted written testimony for the US Senate Appropriations Subcommittee’s April 30th hearing, “Biomedical Research: Keeping America’s Edge in Innovation.”

A set of suggested questions for the Senators to consider was also included in hopes of spotlighting key issues around the importance of lifesaving research conducted by the NIH—specifically in the area of HIV—and its critical role in health equity and innovation. We hope that this can be entered into the record for this hearing.

Research Matters Advocacy Toolkit

This toolkit for researchers shares key messages, practical advocacy guides, and resources to help move our collective efforts forward.

Lawsuit Wins and What’s at Stake

AVAC v The US Department of State

On February 10, AVAC led other organizations to sue  the US government including the President, the US State Department and USAID,  seeking emergency relief from an Executive Order that inhumanely froze all funding for foreign assistance. This case may well help to determine the future of foreign assistance, executive overreach, and the role of evidence, facts, and values in US policy.

AVAC’s Executive Director, Mitchell Warren and Public Citizen Litigator, Lauren Bateman explain these lawsuits and why they matter.

Resources

The Role of PEPFAR in HIV Prevention

Protecting Black and Brown Communities Amidst Foreign Aid Cuts

AVAC Senior Program Manager for Policy, John Meade Jr., describes PEPFAR’s historic legacy and strongly argues for its continued importance in the face of attacks by the new US administration. This piece appears in The Broadsheet, the magazine published by the Congressional Black Caucus Health Braintrust.

Better Engagement, Better Evidence

Working in partnership with patients, the public, and communities in clinical trials with involvement in good participatory practice

Writing in the Lancet Global Health, AVAC staffers Stacey Hannah, Jessica Salzwedel, and several co-authors, write about the importance of community stakeholder engagement clearly seen after World Health Organization adoption of new rules requiring clinical trials to improve this kind of coordination.

Self-Care Advocacy for HIV and STI Prevention

Self-care, the ability of people to promote and maintain health, prevent disease, and cope with illness and disability with or without the support of a healthcare worker is especially critical now, as the new US administration’s sweeping funding cuts and policy shifts threaten to erode support for traditional healthcare services, including HIV and STI programs.

By putting testing, prevention, and treatment directly into people’s hands, self-care can help communities maintain vital health services despite reduced funding, limited access to healthcare, and diminished government support. Read our new guide, Self-Care Advocacy for HIV and STI Prevention, on STIwatch.org.

Global Health in the Lurch: What’s happening now and who is pushing back?

 KFF’s Jen Kates and AVAC’s John Meade break it all down on PxPulse Live.

A snapshot of global Health in the first weeks of the Trump Administration, this episode covers the impact of the US freeze on foreign aid to critical federal agencies and the HIV research pipeline and explores action in Congress and among civil society to push back.

Resources

Trials & Projects Halted by USAID Funding Suspension

The stop-work orders have disrupted USAID-supported HIV prevention research, halting critical investigations in vaccine and next-generation PrEP strategies.

The abrupt suspension of these trials also raises serious ethical concerns. Stopping trials mid-course undermines trust in research, jeopardizes community engagement, and abandons participants who volunteer their bodies for scientific discovery. It will take years to build back this critical infrastructure—for HIV research and beyond—as well as the community partnership and trust needed to ensure smooth and ethical research.

HIV Incidence, Age 15-49

Looking backward and then into the future, this chart shows actual HIV rates alongside projected rates with and without current prevention strategies (PrEP, VMMC, and free condoms).

Global PrEP Uptake and PEPFAR’s Role, 2016-2024

AVAC’s Global PrEP Tracker has documented cumulative PrEP initiations on a quarterly basis for nearly a decade. This graph presents the final data collected while PEPFAR was fully operational—PEPFAR support was responsible for 79% of PrEP uptake globally in the last year and reached 83% by the end of September of 2024. Data on the fourth quarter of 2024 is inaccessible since PEPFAR was taken offline in late January.