Longtime advocate warns of Ohio deaths if federal HIV funding is cut ...Middle East

COLUMBUS, Ohio (WCMH) -- An Ohio HIV advocate said possible Trump administration plans to dial back HIV funding, including changes to a grant providing medication to low-income people with the virus, could cause thousands of deaths.

Gil Kudrin, a long-term HIV survivor, is speaking out following growing concern the Ryan White HIV/AIDS program, which delegates treatment grants for low-income patients, could be the next target of budget cuts. The program provides medication to more than 50% of those living with HIV in the U.S., about half a million people, according to the Health Resources and Services Administration.

"There are thousands of people in this county, in this city who rely on Ryan White for their very survival," Kudrin said at the inaugural "State of the LGBTQ+ Community" meeting in Cleveland in late February. "If there is a 90-day interruption for that medication funding, it is likely in the following year there will be 109,000 deaths attributed to that interruption of treatment."

Kudrin's warning came after some Cleveland-area physicians told him they received memorandums detailing the end of the program's funding. Since then, the Trump administration has terminated other grants related to the HIV drug PrEP and begun weighing a dueling plan to eliminate the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's division focused on HIV prevention, according to NBC News.

Under this plan, the CDC's HIV prevention work could transition to be under the Ryan White program, should it remain. However, LGBTQ+ advocates warn the move could easily overburden the program given it's designed to assist those living with HIV, not to promote prevention.

"The Ryan White HIV/AIDS Program does not fill all the HIV gaps," Harold Phillips, deputy director for programs at the National HIV/AIDS Advocacy Network, told NBC News. "It only serves those with an HIV diagnosis."

Another potential plan would cut as much as $700 million for the CDC's HIV division, NBC News also found. Each option is in the preliminary stages, and no final decisions have been made yet.

The uncertainty surrounding the administration's HIV funding plan is why Kudrin is calling on Ohio's LGBTQ+ community to revive "Act Up," a protest movement that called for government action during the AIDS epidemic in the late '80s and early '90s. Kudrin, who has lived with HIV for around 40 years, said he has lost more than 100 friends to HIV and AIDS.

"I need you now to fight as desperately for my life as I fought for other people's lives because, if they take my meds away, I have 45 days left of Biktarvy," said Kudrin, referring to a common HIV drug that can cost more than $4,000 for a month-long supply. "When you take my meds away, I will die. I will die within a year, at most, two. And I have a lot to live for."

Kurdin's plea is especially poignant in a state like Ohio, which is home to six laws that have yielded at least 214 HIV-related criminal prosecutions from 2014 to 2020. While Statehouse proposals to repeal or alter those laws have been unsuccessful, Kurdin encouraged community members to continue advocating for the 27,000 Ohioans living with HIV.

"This is not a joke, this is a call to action," Kudrin said. "If you do not act up now, you will never have another chance."

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