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You know how Donald Trump and his husky henchman RFK Jr. have been systematically dismantling all the vast healthcare agencies, panels and research that, you know, keep us alive? Plus the executive orders and budget proposals the Orange Menace has pushed that have anti-LGBTQ policies laced in? Yeah, so major funding cuts to HIV and AIDS prevention are on the table with this bigly budget bill, and Elton John has taken up the pen to advocate against these drastic cuts. He’s co-written an op-ed with Jeanne White-Ginder, mother to the late Ryan White, who contracted HIV through a contaminated blood transfusion in 1984 when he was 13, and died from the disease six years later. Ryan was a driving influence in Elton creating his AIDS Foundation in 1992, and even before that, Ryan’s story prompted Congress to pass the Ryan White CARE Act in 1990, which still provides lifesaving treatment to more than 500,000 Americans. Here is an excerpt from the op-ed:
In 2019, President Trump proudly launched the End the HIV Epidemic initiative in his State of the Union address — a focused prevention effort to end the HIV epidemic in America by 2030.
This evidence-based strategic initiative has achieved remarkable results, reducing new HIV infections by 21% in targeted communities and connecting people newly diagnosed with HIV to vital care and support services.
This push to end AIDS is in full swing across America, but the work is not done yet — with young people, particularly in the South, now most severely impacted.
We are grateful that the draft budget before Congress continues critically important funding for the Ryan White CARE Act and the End the HIV Epidemic efforts. That is an affirmation of these programs’ effectiveness and bipartisan support.
However, the proposal also would end federal funding to states for HIV surveillance, testing and education; for community-based organizations that reach those most at risk; and for substance abuse treatment and mental health programs that are crucial for driving down HIV infections.
Attempts to cut Medicaid are also alarming, as more than 40% of people living with HIV have their care and treatment covered by Medicaid.
Without this essential insurance, scores of people living with HIV won’t get the care and medicines they need to keep them healthy. The president has said don’t mess with Medicaid. We agree.
Programs that provide treatment, fuel prevention and fight stigma should be expanded, not eliminated, as we work toward eradicating the disease that ended Ryan’s life.
The game-changing opportunity of the moment is to scale up prevention medication that keeps people HIV-free. The recent American-led development of PrEP — a pill or shot that prevents the virus from taking hold — is just the tool we need to end AIDS, but only if we make it accessible to those who need it.
The economics are compelling: 14,000 people can receive generic PrEP ($30 annually) for the lifetime cost of treating one person with HIV ($420,285) — keeping Americans healthy, HIV-free and productive.
The moment of truth is here. As the administration and Congress consider their investment priorities for next year, we urge them to continue joining forces in the fight against AIDS in the United States and worldwide.
Together, their investments over time have created this once-in-a-generation opportunity to end AIDS in America by 2030, as called for by President Trump. Together they can seize that opportunity by banking on prevention.
Clearly, Elton and Jeanne took the persuasion tactic of stroking Trump’s ego. And I get it; it’s an astute strategy, centering Trump in the story and thus appealing to the only thing the man cares about (himself). But my gosh, it roils me that the most effective way of dealing with Tantrum Trump is catering to his infantile disposition, all because no one corrected the behavior at the appropriate time — when he was a toddler! This poor woman lost her son, and now she has to grovel to a giant idiot in the hopes of stopping other people from experiencing her pain. Elton and Jeanne: you’re better and more selfless than I am. I don’t know how you could stomach puffing up that tiny (fisted) dancer’s feathers, but I hope with every fiber of my being that it works.
