Statement from John Barnes on State of the Union Address

During last night’s State of the Union Address, the President declared a new commitment to ending HIV transmissions in the country by 2030. While Funders Concerned About AIDS (FCAA) would like to celebrate the partnership and commitment of the U.S. Government in pursuing this goal, we know that to be successful, this plan would require full funding across the Federal HIV prevention and care portfolios, protection and expansion of programs that ensure access to healthcare, and, critically, policies that value the rights of vulnerable communities, including LGBTQ communities, people of color, and immigrant populations. Unfortunately, this not indicative of what we have seen in the past two years from this Administration.

I encourage our members, and the HIV-related philanthropic sector at-large, to remain vigilant of this new declaration and call out those places where the Administration’s rhetoric does not match their actions. Continue the  critical work of funding rights-based programs and vulnerable communities and supporting the advocacy capacity of our HIV community to hold our government accountable for this new commitment.

For more on the community’s response to last night’s remarks, I recommend reading statements from our members such as AIDS United, Aidsfonds, and the Elizabeth Glaser Pediatric AIDS Foundation. Additionally, for more information on what is needed to fully address and end the epidemic, I encourage you to read a community-driven roadmap released last November by AIDS United and the Act Now: End AIDS Coalition: Ending the HIV Epidemic in the United States: A Roadmap for Federal Action.