STAT+: NIH cuts halt 24-year program to prevent HIV/AIDS in adolescents and young adults
NIH terminated grants for a program studying how to diagnose, treat, and prevent HIV and AIDS in adolescents and young adults.
During Donald Trump’s first term, he made it a goal to end the HIV epidemic in the U.S. by 2030. That priority has fallen by the wayside in the second Trump administration, with the termination of a number of grants related to HIV in the past week.
Most notable was the sudden withdrawal of $18 million per year for a program dedicated to understanding how to diagnose, treat, and prevent HIV infections and AIDS in adolescents and young adults, who account for about 19% of new infections annually in the U.S. On Friday, the Adolescent Medicine Trials Network for HIV/AIDS Intervention was notified that the two major grants that support its operations had been halted by the National Institutes of Health, in a move that legal experts say may be found illegal if it were challenged in court.
Researchers say the loss of the program — during the third year of the seven-year grants — would mean ceasing research that could help expand the populations that might benefit from emerging treatments. The network has two ongoing trials studying a potential preventive treatment for HIV and pregnancy and assessing the effectiveness of sexual health counseling and behavioral therapy to reduce HIV transmission in adolescents who use stimulants.
