On Tuesday, March 18, 2025, AIDS Foundation Chicago learned from national partners that the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), under President Trump’s directive to cut federal spending, are considering eliminating all funding for the Division of HIV Prevention (DHP) at CDC. This narrow-sighted and misguided action would have dangerous outcomes for our communities and would roll back decades of progress we have made to end the HIV epidemic in the U.S. and Illinois by the year 2030.

Not only would eliminating DHP funding violate appropriations law, it also runs counter to decades of bipartisan support for HIV prevention across presidential administrations, including President Trump who during his first term established the Ending the HIV Epidemic Initiative (EHE) to inject new funding for HIV prevention in 57 highest-need jurisdictions. Cook County is one of those 57 jurisdictions. Since its establishment in 2019, the EHE initiative at the CDC has resulted in a 21% reduction in HIV incidence in EHE jurisdictions, far above the national average over that same period.

AFC was proud to be one of 155 organizations that signed a letter from the Federal AIDS Policy Partnership (FAPP) to Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy, Jr., in defense of HIV prevention funding at CDC. AFC was also an endorsing organization in a Congressional letter to President Trump opposing the funding cuts to HIV prevention that was co-led by Illinois’ own Congresswoman Robin Kelly (IL-02), along with Congressman Mark Pocan (WI-02) and Senators Kirsten Gillibrand (NY) and Jeffrey A. Merkley (OR). The following Members of Congress from the Illinois delegation signed onto the letter to President Trump:

Senator Richard Durbin
Senator Tammy Duckworth
Congresswoman Robin Kelly (IL-02) [Co-Lead with Rep. Pocan]
Congresswoman Delia C. Ramirez (IL-03)
Congressman Jesus “Chuy” Garcia (IL-04)
Congressman Mike Quigley (IL-05)
Congressman Sean Casten (IL-06)
Congressman Danny K. Davis (IL-07)
Congressman Raja Krishnamoorthi (IL-08)
Congresswoman Jan Schakowsky (IL-09)
Congressman Brad Schneider (IL-10)
Congressman Bill Foster (IL-11)
Congresswoman Lauren Underwood (IL-14)
Congressman Eric Sorensen (IL-17)

We applaud these 14 Members of Congress from the Illinois delegation for their commitment to ending the HIV epidemic in Illinois, and for their rapid response to push back against this harmful policy. We thank them for standing up for their constituents who are vulnerable to HIV and who depend on HIV prevention funding for HIV testing and counseling, linkage to Pre-Exposure Prophylaxis (PrEP), access to condoms to prevent HIV and STIs, and more.

AFC is committed to protecting HIV treatment and prevention funding, and ensuring that we have dedicated and separate funding for each, because people who are HIV-positive and HIV-negative have distinct needs. We look forward to working with our elected officials at all levels of government to ensure that these funding streams are protected. We urge you to call your federal representatives to let them know you support life-saving HIV prevention services. AIDS United has created an action alert that includes a sample script, and PrEP4All is leading a petition you can sign.