NBC News: NBC News Covers President Trump’s Global Health Budget Request
“One surprise winner in the proposed Trump administration budget will be HIV/AIDS funding, despite a nearly 18 percent cut to the Department of Health and Human Services. … The budget promises to ‘provide sufficient resources to maintain current commitments and all current patient levels on HIV/AIDS treatment under the President’s Emergency Plans for AIDS Relief.’ … ‘What’s unknown is how this might affect a whole range of other programs that provide HIV support: in awareness, research, prevention, housing, and other areas,” said Dr. Jen Kates, the director of global health and HIV policy at the Kaiser Family Foundation. ‘It’s not a slam dunk by any stretch,’ she added…” (McCausland, 3/17).

NPR: Trump Foreign Budget: HIV Prevention Spared, U.N. And Others Lose Big
“In the introduction to his proposed federal budget, President Donald Trump states clearly that he plans to spend far less abroad and on international issues than did previous administrations. … The President’s budget explicitly mentions international health programs that it does plan to continue to support. The first is Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance … The second is PEPFAR, the incredibly successful anti-AIDS program that started under President George W. Bush…” (Beaubien, 3/16).

STAT: For health community, an unexpected bright spot in Trump budget: vaccines
“…Despite deep proposed cuts to the Department of Health and Human Services and the National Institutes of Health, the budget blueprint released by the Trump administration preserves a billion-dollar commitment to Gavi…” (Facher, 3/16).

Vox: One important exception to Trump’s budget cuts: programs to fight AIDS
“…The budget … ‘provides sufficient resources to maintain current commitments and all current patient levels on HIV/AIDS treatment under the President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief [PEPFAR].’ … ‘While this language [in the budget blueprint] isn’t that clear about amounts,’ said Jennifer Kates, director of global health and HIV policy at the Kaiser Family Foundation, ‘it implies that current commitments will be maintained.’ The budget blueprint is just an early proposal, and it’s possible broader public health cuts could impact money that’s allocated to these programs in the final budget in May. But the administration has signaled its priorities here, and in a proposal that makes very little mention of specific diseases, the attention paid to HIV is notable…” (Belluz, 3/16).

Vox: Trump’s budget on health: 3 losers and 2 winners
“President Donald Trump’s budget blueprint, out [Thursday], includes devastating cuts to health research funding and public health programs — along with some vague commitments to launch a pandemic response fund and maintain funding in the fight against HIV. … We’ve parsed the health winners and losers in the budget for you. Here’s a quick overview. Loser: The National Institutes of Health … Loser: Health services research … Loser: Public and environmental health … Winner: Responding to crises like Zika and bird flu … Winner: The fight against HIV and malaria…” (Belluz, 3/16).