Contact: [email protected]

New York, NY, April 2, 2025 — AVAC condemns the US administration’s ongoing reduction in force (RIF) of the US Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), which oversees 13 agencies, including the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and the National Institutes of Health (NIH). In a strategically blind and callous move, the administration has begun to dismiss 20,000 public servants and leaders across every domain of global health research, policies and programs—without any clear plan to sustain life-saving work across these agencies.

Among the thousands of colleagues removed from their positions are two stalwart leaders in HIV, sexually transmitted infections (STI) and sexual and reproductive health: the CDC’s Jonathan Mermin and NIAID’s Jeanne Marrazzo. These two professionals epitomize the best in scientific leadership—unyielding commitment to evidence, rights, community engagement, and to translating science into policy, programs and practice.

“What we’re witnessing is a true ‘brain drain’ at the highest levels of government. Losing Drs. Marrazzo and Mermin is a loss for everyone dedicated to advancing human health in the US and around the world,” said Mitchell Warren, Executive Director at AVAC. “By removing these leaders and defunding the work that has led to breakthroughs in HIV prevention and treatment, this administration is setting the US back decades. These personnel changes aren’t just numbers on an organizational chart, but the removal of dedicated public health leaders who have helped build what so many of us rely on. These illegal actions will make America and the world poorer and sicker.”

As the world’s largest funder of biomedical research, decades of NIH investments have driven the discovery and development of therapies and preventive interventions for HIV, tuberculosis, STIs, viral Hepatitis and other infectious diseases. The Adolescent Trials Network (ATN)—created in 2001—revolutionized research by generating data to develop and deliver life-saving HIV and STI interventions for adolescents, an often-excluded group in research. However, recent cuts have gutted the ATN, undermining decades of investment by NIH and American taxpayers to advance healthcare for adolescents. Just as important, the role of the CDC is absolutely essential, by preventing, detecting and responding to emerging health threats. Together, NIH and CDC drive research, policy and programs that lead to groundbreaking discoveries and safeguard human health. These ill-informed decisions risk not only the economic stability of our scientific workforce but also a resurgence of diseases like HIV and TB, reversing years of scientific advancement.

“The advancements of science have given the world lifesaving options in HIV and many other diseases,” said Stacey Hannah, Director of Research Engagement at AVAC. “The wholesale dismantling of research infrastructure is a reckoning for the field. We cannot—and will not—stand by as science, which has delivered products, programs, and services that combat diseases and empower communities, is systematically dismantled. Once, bipartisan support fueled excellence in public service and research; science has only grown stronger since then, and now we need leadership that matches its promise.” 

“It’s devastating that this is happening now—when in four decades of battling the HIV epidemic we’ve never had the opportunity that we have now with long-acting injectable PrEP to put the world on track to end the AIDS epidemic,” Warren added. “Years of investment, collaboration, and community engagement, with leadership from CDC and NIH, had begun to break down longstanding barriers. Now, this momentum has been abruptly halted. Without urgent, coordinated action, the hard-won gains in HIV prevention will be reversed, leaving communities more vulnerable and deepening inequities.” 

AVAC urges Congress to take action in stopping the wanton destruction and assault on science being waged by the administration. Without federally funded public health research, the US risks losing its place as a global leader in biomedical research and becoming more vulnerable to the next infectious disease threats.

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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.

Contact: [email protected]

WASHINGTON, D.C., March 10, 2025 — Tonight, a federal district court in Washington, DC, granted in part and denied in part a motion for a preliminary injunction in a lawsuit brought by AIDS Vaccine Advocacy Coalition (AVAC) and Journalism Development Network (JDN). The motion asked the court to allow humanitarian work to continue while the lawsuit challenging the administration’s foreign-assistance freeze moves forward. The two groups are represented in the case by Public Citizen Litigation Group.

The court ordered that the administration spend money appropriated by Congress for foreign assistance but declined to order restoration of foreign assistance grants that had been terminated en masse.

Lauren Bateman, an attorney with Public Citizen Litigation Group and lead counsel on this case, issued the following statement in response:

“Today’s decision affirms a basic principle of our Constitution: the president is not a king.

“But we are painfully aware that, without unwinding the mass termination of foreign assistance awards, winning on the constitutional issues does not avert the humanitarian disaster caused by the Trump Administration’s freeze on foreign assistance. And it does not undo the damage that the freeze has already inflicted on millions of vulnerable people across the world. Deaths will continue to mount.

“While the courts have an important role to play in standing up for the rule of law, Americans need more than just the courts. We need Congress, which has always supported foreign aid on a bipartisan basis, to assert itself.”

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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.

Contact: [email protected]

WASHINGTON, D.C., March 6, 2025 — On behalf of plaintiffs AIDS Vaccine Advocacy Coalition and Journalism Development Network, Public Citizen attorneys appeared in court today to argue for a preliminary injunction against the Trump administration, to enable humanitarian work to continue while a lawsuit challenging the administration’s attempted termination of foreign assistance moves forward.

Allison Zieve, director of Public Citizen Litigation Group, issued the following statement in response to the district court’s deadline:

“During a 4-hour hearing, the government continued to insist that shutting down humanitarian assistance was both reasonable and lawful. It also continued to take the position that the court has no authority to grant relief.

“In response, though, the court set a deadline of Monday evening for payments to our clients that are overdue. He also indicated that he will set a timeline for payment of others’ overdue invoices. And we are hopeful that the judge will provide additional relief when he rules on the full scope of our preliminary injunction motion on Monday.”

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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.

Contact: [email protected]

WASHINGTON, D.C., March 5, 2025 — Today, the Supreme Court rejected the Trump administration’s efforts to evade compliance with a federal court’s order to lift the freeze on foreign assistance.

Plaintiffs in the case are represented by Public Citizen Litigation Group. A hearing in the district court on Plaintiffs’ motion for a preliminary injunction is scheduled for tomorrow at 2pm ET.

Lauren Bateman, an attorney with Public Citizen Litigation Group and lead counsel in this case, stated:
“Today’s ruling by the Supreme Court confirms that the Administration cannot ignore the law. To stop needless suffering and death, the government must now comply with the order issued three weeks ago to lift its unlawful termination of federal assistance.”

Mitchell Warren, executive director of AIDS Vaccine Advocacy Coalition (AVAC), added:
“We welcome the Supreme Court’s decision to deny the government’s application to vacate the District Court’s order. This ruling is particularly appropriate in light of the critical importance of honoring commitments to global health initiatives, including lifesaving HIV/AIDS programs. Lives are at stake, and delays in funding directly impact those in need. AVAC remains dedicated to advocating for sustained and uninterrupted support for HIV/AIDS research and prevention.”

Journalism Development Network (JDN)’s Drew Sullivan, also commented:
“The Supreme Court has halted the government’s bid to continue its unlawful withholding of funds and termination of work. Independent media organizations around the world are suffering from the government’s illegal suspension of critical foreign assistance projects and termination of grants. This order will give them some respite.”

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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.

Contact: [email protected]

WASHINGTON, D.C., February 28, 2025 — The Trump administration’s last-minute plea asking the Supreme Court to override a temporary restraining order requiring the administration to keep its commitment to recipients of foreign assistance funding should be rejected, according to a brief filed today by Public Citizen Litigation Group on behalf of AIDS Vaccine Advocacy Coalition and Journalism Development Network.

As detailed in the brief, the Trump administration has flouted the district court’s order for two weeks. Meanwhile, the freeze on payments to non-profits that engage in global humanitarian work is causing extraordinary and irreversible harm to the non-profits, their employees, and the people in need around the world who depend on their work.

“The district court gave the government every opportunity to demonstrate what steps it was taking to release foreign-assistance funding, as the TRO required, and to explain any practical impediments it faced in pursuing compliance,” the groups wrote in their filing.  “But even by the time of the district court’s February 25 hearing—nearly two weeks after the TRO had issued—government counsel could not identify a single action the government had taken in the twelve days since the TRO to release frozen funds.”

The filing comes in response to the government’s Wednesday night application to the Supreme Court seeking expedited relief, which asked the justices to vacate a lower court decision requiring compliance with three previous orders directing the government to unfreeze foreign assistance programs that provide life-saving aid while the case proceeds.

“As the administration openly flouts multiple court orders, the people around the world who depend on U.S. foreign assistance programs face mass starvation, disease, and death,” said Lauren Bateman, attorney with Public Citizen Litigation Group. “It is both a moral and legal crisis.”

In late January, President Trump signed an executive order directing agencies to freeze nearly all foreign assistance programs. Shortly thereafter, Secretary of State Marco Rubio ordered a halt on payments to those programs and directed grantees to stop their work.

On February 13, two days after Public Citizen filed suit, the federal district court judge ordered the Trump administration to resume payments to its development program partners and allow work to continue, at least while the case proceeded in court. Since then, in the face of the administration’s recalcitrance, the judge has reiterated his order three times. Although on Wednesday night the Court stayed a portion of the order requiring payments for past work to be paid by that night, the district court order remains in effect—and the administration continues to defy it.

“Congress created foreign assistance programs, directed the State Department and USAID to implement them, and appropriated funding to do so,” said Allison Zieve, director of Public Citizen Litigation Group. “The administration’s conduct flouts—not only the district court’s orders—but Congress’s constitutional role under the separation of powers at the heart of our Constitution.”

“We hope the Supreme Court will act quickly to reject the government’s effort to avoid complying with the law,” said Nicolas Sansone, attorney with Public Citizen Litigation Group. “Every additional day that the government continues to defy the district court’s order compounds the pointless suffering caused by the administration’s arbitrary and unlawful foreign-assistance freeze.”

“This administration’s actions reflect an ignorance of the role of foreign assistance and a disregard of people’s lives in the United States and around the world,” said Mitchell Warren, executive director of AIDS Vaccine Advocacy Coalition. “The blanket freezes and now terminations of life-saving projects do not reflect an honest attempt to evaluate for efficiency, but rather an intentional effort to destroy decades of progress. But this is not just about PEPFAR. This is not just about the HIV response. This is about the rule of law.”

“Journalists in some of the toughest places for media are losing their jobs, their security, and possibly their visas because of the unlawful freeze,” said Drew Sullivan, publisher of Journalism Development Network. “The courts need to understand the damage that has been done and correct it.”

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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. 

Contact: [email protected]

WASHINGTON, D.C., February 19, 2025 — Today, on behalf of the AIDS Vaccine Advocacy Coalition (AVAC) and Journalism Development Network, Inc. (JDN), Public Citizen Litigation Group filed a motion for civil contempt in its lawsuit seeking emergency relief from the freeze on foreign assistance funding and orders to stop work.

Last week, a federal court issued a temporary restraining order (TRO) in the case, prohibiting the blanket suspension of foreign-assistance funding and enjoining enforcement of stop-work orders, as well as orders suspending or terminating foreign assistance grants.

Last night, the administration revealed in a status report that it has not restarted any funding or allowed the resumption of work. Rather, it claimed that it reviewed thousands of affected State Department and USAID grants, contracts, and cooperative agreements, and concluded that nearly every one should be suspended or terminated.

Lauren Bateman, an attorney with Public Citizen Litigation Group and lead counsel on this case, commented on the recent developments:

“The defendants’ response to last week’s temporary restraining order amounts to direct defiance of the Court and the rule of law.

“The administration’s brazen noncompliance cannot be condoned. In today’s filing, we ask the court to order the defendants to immediately comply with the terms of the TRO by rescinding all suspensions, stop-work orders, and terminations issued since January 19, 2025. We also ask the court to issue an order holding the enjoined defendants in civil contempt and imposing monetary penalties until they comply.”

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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. 

Contact: [email protected]

WASHINGTON, D.C., February 13, 2025 — This evening, a federal district court granted our motion for a temporary restraining order (TRO) against the Trump administration’s wholesale freeze on foreign assistance funding. The order lifts the freeze and restores funding while our lawsuit against the administration moves forward.

The court order directs the administration not to suspend, pause, or otherwise prevent the obligation or disbursement of appropriated foreign-assistance funds in connection with any contracts, grants, cooperative agreements, loans, or other federal foreign assistance award that was in existence as of January 19, 2025. It also bars the administration from issuing, implementing, enforcing, or otherwise giving effect to terminations, suspensions, or stop-work orders in connection with any contracts, grants, cooperative agreements, loans, or other federal foreign assistance award that was in existence as of January 19, 2025.

“This order is not just an enormous victory for our clients. It is a victory for the world,” said Lauren Bateman, a lawyer at Public Citizen Litigation Group and lead counsel on the case. “Life-saving humanitarian work can resume, and thousands of American jobs will be saved. It is not hyperbole to say that this order saves lives.”

“The freeze on foreign assistance funding is illegal and it is imperative that funding be restored,” said a JDN spokesperson. “For decades, the State Department and USAID support has helped journalists in some of the world’s most repressive and corrupt regimes stay independent of the state and ruling oligarchs. The public has benefited enormously from that work.”

“This decision represents a pivotal moment  for HIV prevention and global health equity,” said Mitchell Warren, AVAC Executive Director. “The Administration has a responsibility to end this massive disruption and harm to work that is essential to global health and national security. Foreign assistance programs don’t operate with an on/off switch, and any changes or modification should be made strategically, not in a chaotic manner that jeopardizes human health, life, and safety and security.”

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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. 

Contact: [email protected]

WASHINGTON, D.C., February 11, 2025 — Today, Public Citizen filed a lawsuit in the US District Court for the District of Columbia against President Trump, the State Department, the US Agency for International Development (USAID), the Office of Management and Budget (OMB), Marco Rubio, Secretary State and Acting Administrator of USAID, and Russell Vought, Director of the Office of Management and Budget, on behalf of the AIDS Vaccine Advocacy Coalition (AVAC) and Journalism Development Network, Inc. (JDN), seeking emergency relief from the freeze on funding for foreign assistance. 

By abruptly freezing foreign assistance funding, the administration has halted the life-saving work of organizations across the globe. The administration’s actions have also cost thousands of American jobs and counting. 

“The Trump administration’s freeze on foreign assistance funding is dangerous and illegal,” said Public Citizen attorney Lauren Bateman, the lead lawyer on the case. “When programs like the ones run by our clients are abruptly shuttered, the impacts are felt throughout the world—with the most vulnerable people bearing the deadliest impact.” 

AVAC is a New York-based non-profit founded in 1995 that works to help end the global HIV/AIDS epidemic by accelerating development and delivery of HIV prevention options. AVAC has been forced to abruptly stop CASPR, a coalition of African civil society organizations that supports research on HIV prevention and provides resources for local communities, including medical research trial participants, journalists, and policy makers. As a result, the rollout of emerging HIV preventative drugs across the African continent may be delayed, risking deadly consequences. AVAC has been forced by the illegal funding freeze to begin laying off members of its 46-person staff. 

“This funding freeze and the draconian actions of this administration are harming global health and security. In the name of economic efficiency, they are destabilizing public health, diplomatic relationships, communities, and economies,” said Mitchell Warren, AVAC Executive Director. “AVAC and many of our African civil society CASPR partners will be irreparably harmed by this pause. It takes time to build up these programs and relationships, but it is taking days to destroy them—and it will take more time to re-build, no matter who funds these efforts. USAID has made America stronger, safer and more prosperous for decades. It’s no time to throw that away.”

The Journalism Development Network, Inc. (JDN) is a Maryland-based non-profit corporation that supports a global consortium of journalists from more than 70 non-profit investigative centers and regional news organizations across the world. JDN receives funding from USAID for its Strengthening Transparency and Accountability Through Investigative Reporting (STAIR) program to support collaborative investigative journalism networks in Europe and Eurasia. 

The USAID funding freeze has shut down JDN’s operations in a number of countries, slashed nearly a third of its budget, forced it to lay off 20% of its staff and reduced salaries and work time for most of the remaining employees. If funding is not restored, JDN will have to permanently close some programs, including  operations in countries in Asia, the Pacific, Latin America and Europe.

“This illegal action by the government deprives small investigative media in low-income countries around the world of the funds they badly need to operate. These centers are critical to holding power to account in some of the toughest places in the world to report. Many are ex-pat journalists who could be deported back home where they risk arrest and torture.” said a JDN spokesperson.

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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. 

Lima, Peru – Gastón Devisich, an advocate, activist, educator, trainer, and researcher who has exemplified commitment to service above self, particularly in efforts to involve gay, bisexual, and other men who have sex with men in scientific research and HIV prevention advocacy is the recipient of the 2024 Omololu Falobi Award for Excellence in HIV Prevention Research Community Advocacy. Devisch works as the Community Engagement Coordinator at Fundación Huésped, in Argentina.  

Devisich accepted the award during a plenary session October 9, 2024 at the 5th HIV Research for Prevention Conference in Lima, Peru. He has been recognized as a catalyst for emerging community-driven demands that could lead to the design of new interventions, as well as for consistently reporting back to the community with scientific updates and promoting their meaningful participation in HIV research and development. 

This year the Falobi Award committee chose to focus on Latin America as the region hosts the HIVR4P conference. Despite significant progress to reduce new infections and expand access to antiretroviral therapy (ART), Latin America still experiences persistent barriers, especially among key populations, including gay men, transgender people, and sex workers. Most new infections in the region were concentrated in these groups. The award committee hopes to shed light on this and on the stigma, discrimination, and legal barriers that continue to hinder access to HIV prevention and treatment services for vulnerable populations in Latin America.   

“I was deeply moved when I learned that I was the 2024 recipient of the Omololu Falobi Award because it is an acknowledgment from my peers,” Gastón Devisich said. “Having grown up surrounded by trauma and rejection, I spent much of my childhood feeling unseen and unheard. I often felt invisible or had to remain unnoticed in order to survive. The HIV community was the first place where I truly felt like I belonged, which is why putting my experience to the service of others—hoping to make their journeys easier—has always been my main motivation to give back.”  

“Since joining Fundación Huésped in 2019 and working full-time in HIV R&D, my primary goal has been to create opportunities for people who lack access to prevention tools: either because they are denied access to the combination prevention strategies we currently have, or because those strategies simply don’t meet their specific needs, highlighting the ongoing need for an HIV vaccine,” Devisich added.   

The award was presented by Luciana Kamel, Community Engagement Coordinator at Instituto Nacional de Infectologia Evandro Chagas/ Fundação Oswaldo Cruz in Rio de Janeiro. 

“I met Gaston during the implementation of the Mosaico vaccine study in the region. He has always been highly engaged and attentive to issues of access, equity, gender minorities and social justice, not only in terms of HIV prevention but also in treatment, and more recently, in cure. I can’t imagine a better person to receive this award and to represent advocacy in Latin America on the global stage,” Kamel said. 

Devisch’s nominators highlighted his service to the community, citing contributions to the Argentinean Network of Young People and Adolescents Living with HIV (RAJAP), representation of Latin America and the Caribbean in the NGO Delegation to the UNAIDS Coordinating Board, and pioneering efforts in vaccine advocacy and in creating a South American regional consortium for cure advocacy. ]“Gastón is passionate about serving the Latin American community! He is raising the research profile of Latin America to make sure those communities are not left behind,” said one nominator. 

Eighteen years ago this week, Omololu Falobi was killed and since 2008, the Omololu Falobi award has been presented as ongoing legacy that recognizes his commitment and lasting contributions to HIV prevention research advocacy and honors those who follow in his footsteps. Manju Chatani-Gada, Director of Partnerships & Capacity Strengthening at AVAC and one of the co-founders of this award said, “Omololu was a visionary leader, journalist and HIV prevention activist, who accomplished much in his too-short life. He dedicated himself to HIV prevention research advocacy in Nigeria, Africa and worldwide and to championing the voices of civil society. As we honor Gastón’s work, we continue to honor Omololu’s work. He would be proud of Gastón’s passionate advocacy and commitment to linking science and communities.” 

The Omololu Falobi Award for Excellence in HIV Prevention Research Community Advocacy was established in 2008 by the African Microbicides Advocacy Group (AMAG) and partner organizations to recognize advocates’ contribution to the HIV prevention research field through advocacy. Today the award is presented by AMAG, AVAC, Journalists Against AIDS Nigeria (JAAIDS), the New HIV Vaccine and Microbicides Advocacy Society (NHVMAS) and The Choice Agenda. 

Learn more about Devisich’s work and that of Fundación Huésped and read more about the Omololu Falobi Award and past recipients here. 

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