June 24, 2017
Dear Mr. President,
Last week 6 members of the Presidential Advisory Council on
HIV/AIDS resigned and you didn't bat an eyelash. Which isn't surprising of course. During the campaign when you were just
Candidate Trump you refused to meet with HIV advocates so your position on the
subject was made fairly clear. But HIV
and AIDS aren't going away and ignoring them won't make them go away. This is a problem that needs to be dealt
with.
Shortly after your inauguration the Office of National AIDS
Policy website was removed. Despite many
requests for information your administration has never explained why. The Board members who resigned say that you
just don't care and I'm inclined to believe them. But like I already said, HIV/AIDS is not going
to go away. Bill Clinton recognized this
when he formed the Presidential Advisory Council in 1995. He formed the Council because HIV is an
epidemic; a fast spreading, deadly epidemic.
And he knew, as most leaders do, that any disease with the potential to
kill a large percentage of the population should be addressed head-on by the
government (not ignored). Thanks to a
steady influx of cash and research tremendous progress has been made in slowing
down the spread of the disease as well as improving outcomes for patients.
Currently, the United States is seen as a world leader in
HIV/AIDS research and care. This is
something to be proud of because HIV is a global
epidemic and germs don't really care about national borders. But rather than capitalize on the progress we
have made, your budget proposes to cut $149
million to the Center for Disease Control (CDC) for HIV prevention AS WELL
AS cutting $550 million to the
National Institutes of Health (NIH) AIDS research program. This is a step back that will be felt all
over the world. I hope you are prepared
to live with the consequences of this.
This isn't leadership...this isn't even common sense.
Sincerely,
Amy Beaton
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