Trump Accused of Not Caring About HIV/AIDS

Former members of the Presidential Advisory Council on HIV/AIDS (PACHA) in the United States have been explaining why they've decided to step down.

Several say the Trump administration has no strategy to address the on-going epidemic and accuse the U.S. President of failing to take the needs of people living with the disease seriously.

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In an op-ed published in Newsweek, Scott Schoettes, a member of the council since 2014, said he and five other members resigned last week in protest, “As advocates for people living with HIV, we have dedicated our lives to combating this disease and no longer feel we can do so effectively within the confines of an advisory body to a president who simply does not care”.

“It is not acceptable for the U.S. President to be unaware of these realities, to set up a government that deprioritizes fighting the epidemic and its causes, or to implement policies and support legislation that will reverse the gains made in recent years.”

PACHA, founded in 1995 to advise the White House on HIV/AIDS research and policy proposals, has included doctors, public-health specialists, lawyers, health-care executives and community organizers among its members. 

The council also oversees the National HIV/AIDS Strategy, which was created under the administration of President Barack Obama in 2010 and revised in 2015.

Schoettes said the first sign of Trump’s lack of understanding and concern came last year, when his presidential campaign refused to meet with advocates for people living with HIV. On the day he took office, an official White House website for the Office of National AIDS Policy was taken down. 

More importantly, Trump has not appointed anyone to lead the White House Office of National AIDS Policy, and his health care reform would have “devastating” effects on those living with HIV, Schoettes added. 

More than 40 percent of the approximately 1.1 million people with HIV in the United States currently receive care through Medicaid. 

Experts say Trump's proposed budget cuts to the program could cause problems.

"If they don’t have access to care, they don’t get the care they need, and then they also are more likely to transmit the infection to other people," Lucy Bradley-Springer, who left the council along with Schoettes, told Business Insider.

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The White House Press Secretary Sean Spicer defended Trump on Monday, saying the President cares “tremendously” about HIV and AIDS.

"Obviously, the individuals that he’s appointed here in the White House have been in communication with various stakeholders in that community to help develop policies and formulas going forward, but we’re going to continue to do what we can from a government standpoint," Spicer told reporters at the briefing. 

Trump had hired Katy Talento, an HIV/AIDS and infectious disease expert, to be his health policy adviser on the Domestic Policy Council, according to the Washington Post.

Schoettes said he hoped the 15 members left on the council can influence the policy from the inside, and he will play a more actively role from the outside, “We will be more effective from the outside, advocating for change and protesting policies that will hurt the health of the communities we serve and the country as a whole if this administration continues down the current path”