Trump’s New Program to Eliminate HIV/AIDS Trump's New Program to Eliminate HIV/AIDS

SYRACUSE, NY (NCC News) – 

President Donald Trump will be addressing the nation at his State of the Union tonight at nine. One of his main topics will be announcing a plan to end the spread of HIV/ AIDS by the year 2030.

Trump’s plan is to increase funding for treatment and prevention. According to Politico, the first five years of the plan will consist of health officials going to communities across 20 states that have the highest case levels.

HIV/ AIDS is something that today affects over 1 million Americans, and 40,000 people are newly diagnosed every year. 

New York state has the eighth highest rate in the US, with 14 affected per 100,000 people. For the Syracuse area, the rate is much higher. It was about 166 per 100,000 people in 2017.

Many organizations already exist around the Syracuse area to work on the fight against the prevention of AIDS. One organization is known as ACR Health, which provides services to the at-risk population. John Arcaro is the Director of Community Initiatives at ACR Health, which reaches to over 14 counties. 

With this increase of funding, Trump will hopefully fund programs like ACR Health. Arcaro hopes that with this increase the at-risk population can receive more than just money.

“So just putting money into treatment and prevention is great, but we also need to address those social determinants of health, those things that not everyone has access to,” Arcaro said.

Such things include education, nutrition, employment, and housing. Having these things will make it easier for those who suffer from AIDS to focus on getting the help they need.

In addition, Arcaro hopes these health officials coming into the communities are culturally mindful.

“There needs to be a lot of coaching on culturally appropriate services and language. The Trump administration isn’t known for being sensitive to LGBTQ issues, that’s something I hope is taken into consideration,” Arcaro said.

The president will be releasing his goals on the effort tonight in his speech. The more detailed plan is to come Wednesday morning in a keynote address from the Assistant Secretary for Health at The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Brett Giroir, who has been closely involved in the effort.

 

 

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