In a new study, researchers predicted that “ending federal funding for the Ryan White Program could increase HIV infections across 31 U.S. cities by 49% in the next five years.”
The Ryan White HIV/AIDS program was established in 1990, providing “comprehensive HIV/AIDS medical care, treatment and support services in the United States for approximately 500,000 people annually. According to the federal government’s Health Resources and Services Administration, the agency overseeing the Ryan White Program, the medical care it provided in 2023 resulted in a record-breaking 90.6% HIV suppression rate (number of people with undetectable virus) among those it served.”
The researchers involved in the study “surveyed Ryan White clinic directors and administrators to estimate the proportion of Ryan White clients who would lose viral suppression if services stopped, and used the responses to inform the computer simulation of that stoppage.” They found that ending the program would “incur some 75,000 more HIV infections during the next five years than if funding continued uninterrupted – a 49% increase in new infections.”
The authors emphasized that “no matter what these studies learn…federal funding for HIV and AIDS prevention and treatment makes a significant difference.”
