Kaine, Colleagues Introduce Bill to Reverse Harmful Trump Admin Actions to Curtail HIV Prevention Efforts

WASHINGTON, DC - U.S. Senator Tim Kaine (D-VA) and a group of Senators introduced legislation that would reverse recent foreign policy changes made by the Trump Administration that have shut down global HIV prevention programs and cut off access to HIV preventative medications, especially for at-risk populations around the world. The HIV Medication Access Act would amend the Foreign Assistance Act to clarify that HIV prevention, including PrEP, is lifesaving humanitarian assistance. The legislation is co-sponsored by Senators Jacky Rosen (D-NV), Chris Van Hollen (D-MD), Catherine Cortez Masto (D-NV), Adam Schiff (D-CA), Tammy Duckworth (D-IL), Cory Booker (D-NJ), Patty Murray (D-WA), Martin Heinrich (D-NM), and Bernie Sanders (I-VT).

"Since 2010, HIV has been reduced by 40 percent around the world thanks to international humanitarian assistance and prevention methods. But on the first day of his second term, President Trump blocked the U.S.'s ability to provide lifesaving aid and threw decades of progress down the drain," said Kaine. "I'm proud to support legislation that would clarify that HIV prevention, including medicines like PrEP, is lifesaving assistance and ensure the U.S. can prioritize at-risk populations to resume this critical programming. Containing the spread of infectious diseases overseas is essential to keeping Americans safe here at home."

"HIV prevention programs are essential to end the global AIDS epidemic, yet we've seen the Trump administration do nothing but attack these lifesaving programs and the communities that depend on them," said Alexis McGill Johnson, president and CEO, Planned Parenthood Federation of America. "Everyone deserves access to the health care they need, including HIV prevention information and services. We thank Sen. Rosen for the introduction of the HIV Medication Access Act, a key piece of legislation that aims to remedy some of the Trump administration's cruel and shortsighted actions to shut down HIV prevention programs and withhold effective prevention medication from all communities who need them. This bill acknowledges what we all know to be true: everyone deserves access to health care, no matter who you are or where you live."

"Progress against HIV depends upon making decisions that are based on evidence and equity, ensuring everyone who needs proven HIV prevention can access choices that work for them," said Mitchell Warren, Executive Director of the AIDS Vaccine Advocacy Coalition. "When access to the fruits of science is dictated by politics and ideology, we paralyze progress. Investments are stalled; manufacturers pull back while generics stay out of reach; and the potential of prevention options to bend the curve of the epidemic is lost. The HIV Medication Access Act is essential legislation, ensuring that the most effective options for HIV prevention can be scaled up everywhere and for everyone. It is well past time to translate great science into impact."

"We are incredibly grateful to Senator Rosen for carrying forward this fight to protect global HIV prevention access. A revolution in HIV prevention has been taking place over the past decade thanks to PrEP," said Jeremiah Johnson, Executive Director for PrEP4All. "With groundbreaking new technologies like long-acting injectable PrEPs and the dapivirine ring, we're on the edge of unprecedented progress in the fight to end the spread of this devastating virus across the world. For decades the US has been investing in the global HIV response waiting for precisely this kind of moment; the recent volatility in foreign aid and PrEP access threatens to derail our efforts just as we are on the cusp of a historical victory."

"At this moment when PrEP, and soon long-acting injectable PrEP, are some of the greatest advancements in HIV prevention globally, the Administration has directed explicit discrimination in its use," said Beirne Roose-Snyder, Senior Policy Fellow for the Council for Global Equality. "Excluding LGBTQI+ people and other key and vulnerable populations from PEPFAR's PrEP programming is both inefficient and immoral as it undermines proven public health strategies to reduce HIV and deliberately denies life-saving care to those most at risk. We welcome the necessary and timely HIV Medication Access Act."

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