Press Release

AVAC Condemns Removal of the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices

Contact: [email protected]

NEW YORK, NY, June 11, 2025—AVAC strongly condemns Secretary of Health and Human Services, Robert F. Kennedy, Jr., for removing all members of the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP). This committee of vaccine experts—with decades of experience in vaccine development, delivery and safety—is responsible for developing the country’s vaccine policies and recommendations for the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). At a time when science is under political attack and vital programs are being defunded, AVAC stands with researchers, advocates, and communities calling for Congress to defend public health and unbiased science, which is essential to safeguarding the health of all Americans. The Secretary’s actions attack the integrity of ACIP membership and is a direct threat to public trust in our health systems and in the essential role of vaccines in disease prevention.

“Vaccines remain among the most powerful public health tools ever developed,” said Mitchell Warren, executive director of AVAC. “Vaccines have transformed the global response to infectious diseases, from smallpox to measles to COVID-19, and they are central to the vision of ending the HIV epidemic. At a moment when the US should be investing more in vaccine science, access, and public confidence, it is investing less and simultaneously undermining vaccines generally. Secretary Kennedy’s short-sighted and unceremonious removal of all ACIP members is an alarming escalation in this administration’s campaign to dismantle evidence-based health policy, science and research.”

ACIP’s long-standing commitment to base vaccine recommendations purely on the evidence represents the highest standards of ethical guidance to protect human health. The Secretary’s decision undermines not just US vaccine strategy, but global confidence in immunization programs and guidance that have long relied on US leadership.

The destruction of ACIP adds to the five-month litany of assaults on vaccines and the systems that support them.  From proposed cuts to the Fiscal Year 2026 budget, to the defunding for global vaccine access programs like Gavi and domestic immunization initiatives at the US CDC, to the undermining of the essential role of measles vaccines, the closure of the leading NIH-funded HIV vaccine consortia (CHAVD), to the dismantling of USAID’s HIV vaccine R&D programs and the recommendation to remove COVID-19 vaccines from the US immunization schedule for children and pregnant women, this administration has worked to subvert the importance and impact of life-saving vaccines and erode public trust for vaccine science.   

Vaccines work. Human papillomavirus (HPV) is responsible for 99% of cervical cancers. The HPV vaccine prevents over 90% of cancers caused by HPV, including anal, cervical, penile, throat, vaginal, and vulvar globally, and if more widely available, could prevent hundreds of thousands of annual deaths, according to the WHO. Similarly, hepatitis B (HBV) accounts for 1.1 million deaths globally, and yet the HBV vaccine prevents as many deaths every year, according to WHO. Furthermore, without a vaccine review panel, rollout of anticipated vaccines that protect against gonorrhea, could make access difficult for many Americans when drug resistant gonorrhea is on the rise globally.

“We are witnessing other countries eliminate cervical cancer through robust HPV vaccination and screening programs while the US risks reversing decades of progress,” says Alison Footman, AVAC’s senior program manager of STIs. “The ACIP plays a critical role in ensuring vaccines, including those that prevent STIs like HPV and hepatitis B, are accessible, and recommendations are guided by expert opinions. Now more than ever, we must protect the integrity of public health systems that save lives and prevent diseases.”

As public confidence in vaccines erodes, the value of vaccine science is paramount, representing one of the single greatest advances in the history of medical science, eradicating once life-threatening infections and mitigating the risk of illness from numerous diseases. In the field of HIV, the search for an effective vaccine is advancing thanks to decades of investment in basic science, clinical research, and global partnerships. This progress must be protected and accelerated. A vaccine would provide a durable, scalable form of HIV prevention that does not rely on frequent adherence or health system access, and it would be especially transformative for communities most marginalized by current systems.

AVAC calls on Congress, scientists, and civil society to speak out and stand up for science, for vaccines, and for the future of global and public health.

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About AVAC

AVAC is an international non-profit organization that provides an independent voice and leverages global partnerships to accelerate ethical development and equitable delivery of effective HIV prevention options, as part of a comprehensive and integrated pathway to global health equity. Follow AVAC on Bluesky and Instagram. Find more at www.avac.org and www.prepwatch.org.

Press Release

AVAC Denounces White House Effort to Codify DOGE Cuts to Health, Research and Foreign Assistance

Contact: [email protected]

NEW YORK, NY, June 5, 2025 — AVAC denounces recent proposals and actions by the US administration that signal a clear intention to defund and eliminate lifesaving global health research, development and delivery programs. If passed by Congress, proposed funding rescissions for the current year’s budget would claw back billions of Congressionally appropriated dollars for critical, life-saving programs. In addition, the President’s Fiscal Year 2026 (FY26) budget proposal would further cut funding and entrench a wide range of anti-science and anti-public health policies, many of which undermine the rights of communities vulnerable to HIV. AVAC urgently calls on Congress to step-up in bi-partisan support that aligns the US federal budget with evidence and delivers impact.

“These actions are doing irreparable harm to health research and programs that form the backbone of global efforts to end HIV,” said Mitchell Warren, AVAC’s executive director. “This is not just a budget proposal; this is a shortsighted and reckless policy roadmap that provides further proof that this administration has no regard for science, research, or public health. Every day of unchecked executive overreach unravels decades of progress. Congress must fulfill its duties and intervene to protect policies and programs that have made Americans and the world safer, healthier and more prosperous.”

Released in May as a “skinny” version, the President’s full FY26 budget proposal would dismantle the architecture for global health, including programs and research with historically broad bipartisan Congressional and public support. The FY26 budget proposes slashing PEPFAR by 34% and National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) funding by 36%, for a combined total of over $5.5 billion in cuts – potentially crippling HIV programs and research. The FY26 budget further targets the Global Division of HIV and Tuberculosis (DGHT) at the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) by eliminating it along with other global health programming at the agency. PEPFAR is severely weakened without the partnership of CDC’s global health division and USAID, which bring vast expertise and technical assistance in the implementation of programs at the country-level.

Additionally, the proposed rescissions package would eliminate over $900 million from FY25 global health programs. The rescissions package would cancel not-yet-spent funds, and the administration has not excluded PEPFAR from these further reductions. If passed by Congress, it would codify, or make legal, the unlawful dismantling of USAID, which was initiated through presidential executive overreach and reckless actions by DOGE across federal agencies. Just as important, harmful, ideological rhetoric across FY26 budget documents and the rescissions package attempt to justify targeted cuts to services for the LGBTQI+ community, family planning and reproductive health. Such policies are antithetical to a rights-based public health approach to meeting critical needs among communities who are the most marginalized and vulnerable to HIV and other diseases.

These actions by the administration also come on the heels of last week’s announcement of the elimination of NIH funding for the Consortia on HIV/AIDS Vaccine Development (CHAVD). Founded in 2005, the CHAVD programs – based at Duke University and Scripps Research Institute – have been instrumental to advancing HIV vaccine research and development, contributing to progress toward an HIV vaccine and other scientific innovations.

“A shuttered CHAVD imperils the ongoing quest for an HIV vaccine and sidelines scientific discovery at large, leaving some of the most accomplished scientists in the world without the federal resources needed to continue vital research,” said Stacey Hannah, director of Research Engagement at AVAC. “Americans need to be reminded that vaccines are one of, if not the most cost-effective, impactful health interventions. The CHAVD cuts represent an attack on fundamental science that protects the well-being of all and boosts prosperity in our country and the world.”

These actions are part of a broader anti-science agenda from this administration, which has already taken steps to severely constrain the work of the HIV Prevention Trials Network, the HIV Vaccine Trials Network, the Adolescent Medicine Trials Network for HIV/AIDS Intervention, and the Advancing Clinical Therapeutics Globally for HIV/AIDS and Other Infections (ACTG).

“In a cruel irony, these combined cuts come just as the field reaches a moment of historic promise in HIV prevention,” said John Meade, senior program manager for Policy Advocacy at AVAC. “Later this month, the US FDA is expected to approve lenacapavir (LEN) as a twice-yearly injectable form of PrEP. This product represents the culmination of decades of investment in all stages of scientific innovation, including basic science and global research infrastructure, especially in South Africa. Without NIH investments over the past two decades, the world would not be on the cusp of approval and introduction of LEN for PrEP.”

AVAC calls on Congress to exercise its power of the purse under the Constitution by rejecting the President’s proposed cuts to global health, research, development and science. Congress must maintain this critical funding, which makes the world safer, healthier, and more prosperous. Congress should also immediately reject the rescissions package in its vote expected next week and do all it can to restore funding for HIV research and programming across the federal government.

The field must urgently make the case for sustained investment. Everyone concerned about the devastating effects of ongoing and threatened cuts should reach out to their Senators and Congresspeople immediately. Call the Capitol switchboard at (202) 224-3121, or reach out to your Senators online and Representatives directly.

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About AVAC

AVAC is an international non-profit organization that provides an independent voice and leverages global partnerships to accelerate ethical development and equitable delivery of effective HIV prevention options, as part of a comprehensive and integrated pathway to global health equity. Follow AVAC on Bluesky and Instagram. Find more at www.avac.org and www.prepwatch.org.

Global Health Watch: WHA78, Misinformation at Congressional Hearings, Global Fund Cuts & More

Issue 17

The US Secretary of State and the Secretary of Health and Human Services appeared before Congress this week defending foreign aid cuts and the dismantling of USAID. Advocates are responding, including the Treatment Action Group (TAG) which issued a stark warning: US agencies are engaging in “unethical, dishonorable, and potentially law-breaking machinations” under new leadership, particularly at the NIH. Meanwhile, the US was absent from the World Health Assembly, where the WHO Pandemic Agreement was ratified and where a high-level dialogue on long-acting HIV prevention took place. All this plus looming Global Fund shortfalls, and new COVID-19 vaccine policy changes in this week’s issue. 

Misinformation and Controversy at Congressional Hearings 

The US Secretary of State Marco Rubio appeared in front of the US Congress this week defending radical cuts to foreign aid and a proposed State Department reorganization that deprioritizes global health programs. In front of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee (of which he was once a member), Rubio was corrected when he wrongly claimed that only 12% of US funding goes to direct services. In fact, 12% is the proportion of funds going directly to local NGOs, with 85% of total funding going towards direct services. He also claimed – without evidence – that 85% of PEPFAR beneficiaries were still receiving services and denied any deaths linked to the US cuts. The Secretary repeated these claims before the House Foreign Affairs Committee and Appropriations State and Related Programs subcommittee and ignorantly characterized voluntary male medical circumcision (VMMC) as wasteful spending. VMMC is proven to reduce transmission of HIV. Congressional members challenged Secretary Rubio on the legality of the foreign aid freeze and dismantling of USAID and highlighted reported deaths resulting from the cuts. Meanwhile, some Republican Senators, including Senate State, Foreign Operations, and Related Programs (SFOPs) Chair Lindsay Graham, expressed support for foreign assistance amidst calls for transparency and metrics to transition countries off US funding. 

Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary, Robert F. Kennedy Jr. appeared before the Senate this week to defend cuts to public health programs and biomedical research. Similar to his appearance last week before the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions (HELP) Committee, Kennedy’s remarks were controversial and contradicting.  

IMPLICATIONS: These hearings underscore the challenges facing US global health policy and programming amid shifting political priorities and leadership. Advocacy to counter mis- and dis-information, and a vision for this new era of global health financing, are more important than ever.  

READ:  

An Ethical and Legal Crisis

In a statement, TAG demands immediate action by the NIH to provide Congressionally appropriated and committed funding to the HIV clinical research networks (ACTG, HPTN, HVTN, IMPAACT). 

READ

World Health Assembly Updates 

The United States was notably missing from the World Health Assembly (WHA) this week, with no official delegation attending. This is a major change from previous years where delegations held leadership and diplomacy roles. In contrast, China sent more than 180 delegates and pledged an additional $500 million over the next five years to help stabilize the agency following the withdrawal of the United States, reinforcing its growing influence in global health governance. 

Meanwhile, the WHA formally voted to adopt the WHO Pandemic Agreement, a legally binding accord that lays the foundation for future pandemic prevention and response, including real-time sharing of vaccines, treatments, and diagnostics. For three years, member states negotiated critical issues, with pressure from civil society to embrace key provisions on equity and intellectual property. Some of those provisions have been addressed, but negotiations on an annex detailing the new Pathogen Access and Benefit Sharing (PABS) mechanism will continue with the aim of concluding at next year’s WHA. PABS refers to a proposed system where countries share genomic information about novel pathogens and share tools developed to combat those pathogens, regardless of which country discovered the pathogen or developed effective tools—it has been one of the most contested areas of negotiation. Though the treaty is less ambitious than earlier drafts, nations at the WHA have largely welcomed the agreement as a major achievement.  

Many events and discussions were held on the sidelines of the WHA, including Wednesday’s high-level dialogue organized by the Global HIV Prevention Coalition (GPC). The event, A New Era of HIV Prevention: Accelerating Access to Long-Acting Prevention Options, was co-hosted by UNAIDS, in collaboration with the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA), United Nations Development Fund, (UNDP), WHO, the Federal Republic of Brazil and Kingdom of the Netherlands. AVAC’s Mitchell Warren, who also co-chairs the GPC, opened the session with urgency and optimism, calling it “one of our greatest opportunities in 44 years of HIV prevention,” even as global solidarity is waning. Dr. Lilian Benjamin Mwakyosi, a past AVAC Fellow and director of DARE in Tanzania issued a powerful reminder that “choice for HIV prevention is not a luxury. It’s a right,” stressing that adolescent girls and young women need accessible, discreet prevention options like long-acting PrEP. The dialogue underscored the need for political will, financing, and community-centered action to turn scientific breakthroughs like lenacapavir for PrEP into sustained prevention at scale. 

READ: 

Global Fund Financial Challenges 

More than 260 civil society advocates joined a conversation organized by the Coalition to build Momentum, Power, Activism, Strategy & Solidarity (COMPASS), Eastern Africa National Networks of AIDS and Health Service Organizations (EANNASO), CHANGE, and others to explore the financial constraints facing the Global Fund following its Board meeting earlier this month. Advocates learned unmet pledges and declining global health aid will mean that the current Global Fund Grant Cycle 7 will reduce allocations to countries to align with available resources, moving from pledge-based to cash-based allocations. Countries will receive reduced funding envelopes in mid-June 2025, which will trigger a two-week reprioritization process to focus on life-saving services like treatment continuity and community-led monitoring while deferring lower-priority items. 

IMPLICATIONS: These changes could jeopardize essential programs, especially those supporting key populations. And they also raise significant questions about the recently launched Global Fund replenishment for the next grant cycle. Civil society must prepare now to advocate for transparent processes, protect vital community interventions and support the Global Fund’s ambition to introduce injectable lenacapavir with speed, scale and equity. 

New US COVID-19 Vaccine Policy 

The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) outlined in a new blueprint for COVID-19 vaccines, one that shifts from a recommended annual COVID vaccine for everyone 6 months and older, to adults over 65 and individuals with high-risk conditions, such as compromised immune systems. This shift requires vaccine manufacturers to conduct extensive clinical trials before approving vaccines for healthy individuals aged 6 months to 64 years, potentially delaying access for this group. Rather than proposing the new guidelines through the typical regulatory processes, including opportunities for public comment, this framework was devised and published by the head of the FDA along with the new head of FDA’s Center for Biologics Evaluation and Research (CBER).  

IMPLICATIONS: This unorthodox process could complicate future vaccine approvals, as well as leave interpretation and coverage decisions up to insurers, which would create major access barriers for many. 

READ: 

New Resources: Tracking the Impact of US Cuts to Foreign Aid, USAID, and Research

As the US administration continues to dismantle foreign aid infrastructure and retreat from its commitments to science and global health, AVAC is tracking the impacts and consequences. 

  • What Happened to PEPFAR? provides an in-depth look at the stop work orders and contract terminations disrupting HIV prevention access. 

What We’re Reading

Resources

Avac Event

Fight for Firewalls: HIV and Health Data Privacy in the Snowballing Surveillance State

With the increased abuse of technology in surveilling and criminalizing healthcare, especially abortion and gender affirming care, more and more people are asking: is my personal health data safe?

People living with HIV and human rights advocates have been demanding answers to this question for years, particularly in relation to the collection, sharing, and storing of HIV genetic data without the consent of people living with HIV.

Kendra Albert, a public interest technology lawyer, discussed the current state of health data privacy, especially as it relates to people living with HIV. Participants learned basic concepts in health data privacy and what actions they can take to improve health data privacy on the state level.

Moderator:

  • Martha Cameron, International Community of Women Living with HIV (ICW), North America

Presenters:

  • Kendra Albert, Albert Sellars LLP
  • Kae Greenberg, Center for HIV Law and Policy

Materials:

Protect Federal Funding for HIV, TB, and STI Research and Prevention at the National Institutes of Health

AVAC and 627 organizations, institutions, researchers, clinicians, public health advocates and stakeholders submitted a written letter to the Senate HELP Committee urging lawmakers to reject the cuts to NIH funding for HIV, TB, and STI research and highlighting the impact of these cuts on lifesaving innovation and research infrastructure.

Avac Event

100 Days In: How HIV Advocates are Meeting the Moment

In its first 100 days, the Trump administration proposed deep cuts to public health and HIV funding, attacked evidence-based healthcare, defunded scientific research, rolled back protections for LGBTQ+ people, and emphasized punitive criminal legal approaches. These moves pose serious threats to the future of HIV-related services, care, prevention, and the broader struggle for health equity and racial justice in our multiracial democracy.

Join CHLP for this moderated panel discussion focused on what the first 100 days of the Trump administration have meant for our communities, particularly people living with HIV, Black and brown people, LGBTQ+ people, and those impacted by criminalization, and how we are collectively shifting strategy to meet the current political moment.

Panelists

  • Michael Elizabeth, Equality Federation
  • Venita Ray, Black South Rising
  • John Meade, PrEP in Black America, AVAC
  • Chauncey McGlathery, American Academy of HIV Medicine
  • Jada Hicks & Sean McCormick, CHLP

Avac Event

SCOPE Community E-meeting: Developments in the HIV and STIs Biomedical Prevention Pipeline – An Update for Community Educators and Advocates

The European AIDS Treatment Group is invites you to a community e-meeting “Developments in the HIV and STIs Biomedical Prevention Pipeline – An Update for Community Educators and Advocates”. This interactive meeting for community educators and advocates will provide an update on the latest developments in biomedical HIV and STIs prevention research and implementation, new approaches and future challenges. 

AVAC’s Cindra Fuer and Catherine Verde Hashim will present, What is in the pipeline and what are promising tools for prevention?

Advocates’ Guide: Understanding the President’s Proposed Fiscal Year 2026 (FY26) Budget and Its Implications for Science, Research and Global Health 

The US administration’s proposed Fiscal Year 2026 (FY26) budget marks a sweeping rollback of federal investment in health, research, and global development. For advocates, researchers, and implementers, this proposal demands urgent attention and action.  

This initial “skinny budget” is a proposal and not yet law. A more detailed proposal will be released by mid-to-late May and the US Congress will ultimately decide actual funding levels for FY26, which begins October 1. So, advocates must speak up now to protect funding for research and programming that saves lives and livelihoods. 

Here’s what advocates need to know and do: 

Big Picture: A Dramatic Retrenchment 

The budget proposes $163 billion in cuts to non-defense discretionary spending, including a 26% reduction to the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS)— the department that oversees the US National Institutes of Health (NIH), the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), and the Food and Drug Administration (FDA). These cuts are completely offset by an increase to defense spending and reflect a shift toward the elimination of science and programming tied to diversity, equity, inclusion (DEI), gender, and climate, and a redirection of funding toward defense and “America First” priorities—priorities that put the perceived interests of the US and its citizens over other national and global issues. 

Detailed Analysis and Implications

Health and Biomedical Research 

The proposed cuts to HHS would gut federal support for health and biomedical research, dismantling key programs at NIH and CDC. They threaten progress on infectious diseases, health equity, and pandemic preparedness—undermining decades of scientific gains and leaving communities vulnerable. 

NIH is Cut by $17.9 billion losing HIV and global health research 
  • Preserves $28 billion of the $46 billion for NIH overall, but excludes HIV prevention, global health, and health equity research.  
  • Reorganizes NIH into 5 “realigned” institutes, removing focus on climate, gender, racial equity. 
  • Eliminates the Fogarty International Center and the National Institute on Minority Health and Health Disparities. 
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC): Cut by $3.59 billion 
  • Eliminates Global Health Center and National Centers on environmental health, injury prevention and chronic disease prevention. 
  • Eliminates DEI programs and shifts the burden for pandemic prevention and response. 
Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality: Effectively eliminated 
  • Cited as redundant; targeted for work on climate and gender. 
National Science Foundation (NSF): Cut by $4.9 billion (56%) 
  • Eliminates funding for work seen as ideologically objectionable (e.g., broadening participation and racial equity in STEM). 

Global Health and Development

At a time when the USG should be expanding access to new technologies, the proposed FY26 budget guts foreign assistance funding, threatening pillars of the global HIV response: the President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR) and US contributions to multilateral initiatives, such as Global Fund and GAVI. The ideological targeting of family planning and gender-related programs will further weaken interventions to address HIV, which have been shown to work best within a comprehensive package of health and social services.  

Global Health Programs: Cut by $6.23 billion

  • Defunds NGOs providing family planning, impacting maternal and child health providers. 
  • PEPFAR preserved only for existing treatment programs and programs for the prevention of mother-to-child transmission (PMCT) , and specifically excludes primary prevention and PrEP, except for pregnant and lactating populations. 

USAID Development Aid: Cut by $8.33 billion 

  • USAID is eliminated with the limited number of existing programs moved into the State Department. 
  • Eliminates DEI, climate, and gender-related programming. 
  • Creates new “America First Opportunity Fund” to replace foreign assistance grants with loans that prioritize US interests over humanitarian needs. 

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC)

Health Resources and Service Administrations (HRSA): Cut by $1.73 billion

  • Ryan White HIV/AIDS Program activities not deemed core are eliminated. 

Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMSHA): Cut by $1.065 billion 

  • Eliminates harm reduction and regional substance use program grants. 

Offices of Minority & Women’s Health 

  • Moved under a new, less visible structure. 

New Initiative: “Make America Healthy Again”

  • $500 million focused on lifestyle over treatment. 

What This Means

  • HIV Prevention R&D and global implementation is at risk. Cuts to NIH and USAID directly threaten support for clinical trials, community engagement, and biomedical innovation. 
  • Equity-centered research threatened. Eliminating institutes focused on minority and global health severely undermines inclusive science and jeopardizes future impact. Inclusion is not just a nice to have, it’s integral to achieving impact 
  • PEPFAR protections are narrow. Only existing beneficiaries are covered; scale up and innovation are excluded, compromising the imminent introduction and potential impact of injectable lenacapavir for PrEP. Funding for HIV prevention is also eliminated, except for pregnant and lactating populations. 

Advocacy Priorities

  • Monitor the full FY26 budget release for agency-level detail and justification. 
  • Engage Appropriations and other relevant Committees via coalition efforts (e.g., FAPP, GAPP, GHTC, SHF). 
  • Mobilize your community to contact your Senators and Representatives to let them know you oppose these cuts.  
  • Share your stories from researchers affected by cuts—particularly those whose work is globally focused or funded by NIH/USAID. 
  • Stay up to date with budget briefings and mobilization opportunities. See AVAC’s ‘Research Matters’ resource, which shares guidance and a toolkit for researchers to advocate for continued funding.

This budget is a threat to decades of progress in science, equity, and health—but it is also an opportunity to speak with clarity and urgency about what is at stake. Advocates must ensure that the future of HIV prevention, global health innovation, and equitable science is not written by politics, but by people, evidence, and impact. 

Avac Event

Science in the Crosshairs: Research Advocacy in a Time of Crisis

AVAC and partners had a critical conversation on the escalating threats to health research and equity-centered science. This webinar unpacked the implications of the proposed FY2026 US federal budget—which includes sweeping cuts to NIH, CDC, USAID, and the elimination of vital global and minority health research programs. Together, we explored what these attacks mean for communities, researchers, and implementers and identified actionable advocacy strategies to fight back.

Recording / Slides / Resources

Research Matters – Resources to Protect Research Funding 

For more than 30 years, AVAC and partners have worked to protect the infrastructure and funding that drives lifesaving HIV and biomedical research. Today, that mission is more urgent than ever. 

Funding from the National Institutes of Health (NIH) fuels innovation, drives the economy, and saves lives. Cuts to this support will make America—and the world—poorer, sicker, and less prepared for future health threats. 

Tomorrow (Wednesday, April 30), the US Senate Appropriations Committee will host a hearing on Biomedical Research: Keeping America’s Edge in Innovation at 10:30am ET. Click here to watch the hearing. 

And be sure to read the written statement to the Committee from AVAC and The Federal AIDS Policy Partnership (FAPP) Research Working Groups, which provides a strong, urgent appeal to Congress to reject future funding cuts to the NIH and shows the importance and impact investments in biomedical research have had on lives and livelihoods. 

Resources for Researchers 

In addition, AVAC, TAG and the HIV Medicine Association (HIVMA) co-created a new resource hub, Research Matters, to support researchers advocating for sustained NIH funding. These tools include an Advocacy Toolkit  to help move our collective efforts forward. Please share this link with any researchers who have received NIH funding—we will continue to update the hub with resources to support continued advocacy for biomedical research.  

Share Your Story 

Additionally, AVAC and partners are collecting stories of impact—if you know someone willing to share their story about how NIH cuts are affecting their work, contact John Meade Jr. at [email protected]. This Huffington Post piece by Katie Edwards at the University of Michigan is a terrific example of a researcher sharing the real-world toll on scientists, trial participants, communities, research and public health. 

Thank you for standing with us to protect science, health, and progress.