Washington DC - Health Secretary has pulled funding for research into HIV vaccination projects in what experts say is a hugely damaging move.
Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. may have set HIV research back decades with his brutal cuts. © REUTERS/Pedro Lazaro Fernandez
The Department of and Human Services on Friday cut research programs at Duke University and the Scripps Research Institute, worth about $258 million, which were dedicated to developing a vaccine for HIV.
"The consortia for HIV/AIDS vaccine development and immunology was reviewed by NIH leadership, which does not support it moving forward," an anonymous senior official at the National Institutes of Health .
"NIH expects to be shifting its focus toward using currently available approaches to eliminate HIV/AIDS."
Vaccine manufacturer Moderna also revealed that clinical trials of HIV vaccines had been paused, delaying vital research that could potentially save millions of lives.
Since RFK Jr. was confirmed as President Donald Trump's health secretary, more than a quarter of research grants into HIV and AIDS have been cut, and thousands of jobs are on the chopping block as well.
"We are not witnessing bold reform, but an intentional unraveling of America’s legacy in global health," , the executive director of AVAC, an international organization dedicated to fighting HIV.
"Before Donald Trump’s second presidential inauguration, we were lagging behind in progress toward established HIV targets due to COVID-19, among other factors. But now, we are in a parallel universe entirely."
"This is a decision with consequences that will linger," a professor at the Scripps Research Institute .
"This is a decision with consequences that will linger. This is a setback of probably a decade for HIV vaccine research."
