Trump Administration Ends World AIDS Day Commemoration
- 3 days ago
- 2 min read
The Trump administration’s State Department has announced it will no longer commemorate World AIDS Day (WAD) with public messaging, ending a tradition of raising awareness on December 1st that dates back decades. This is the first time since 1988 that the U.S. government will not observe the day.
The State Department confirmed that employees and grant recipients have been instructed not to use federal funding for commemorative activities or publicly promote the day via communication channels, including social media, media engagements, or speeches. A State Department spokesperson stated that the policy is to "refrain from messaging on any commemorative days, including World AIDS Day". However, the administration has issued proclamations for other observances, such as Anti-Communism Week and Made In America Week. The spokesperson, Tommy Pigott, asserted that "An awareness day is not a strategy".
This move coincides with significant funding cutbacks and proposed reductions to the global HIV/AIDS initiative, the President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR). PEPFAR, established under George W. Bush, is estimated to have prevented 25 million early deaths.
Earlier this year, the administration intended to cut over 90 percent of the US Agency for International Development’s (USAID) foreign aid contracts, which AP projected would axe $60 billion of global aid spending. The U.S. is the largest donor to the global AIDS response, and these cuts have plunged the global aid response into “crisis mode”. The UN body UNAIDS warned that the cuts have "killed people" and left millions without medicine. A recent UNAIDS report cautioned that funding reductions made since Trump assumed office could result in 3.3 million new HIV infections over the next five years. The White House countered this assessment as "totally false" and maintained that President Trump has a "humanitarian heart".
Critics have responded sharply to the decision. U.S. representative Mark Pocan, Chair of the Congressional HIV/AIDS Caucus, labeled the restriction as "shameful and dangerous," adding, "Silence is not neutrality; it is harm".
In a recent interview, Sir Elton John spoke about the availability of medicine like PrEP and antiretrovirals, emphasizing that "We can stop the spread of AIDS, if people just got off their backsides". He had previously suggested that if President Trump "ended AIDS," it would "really be a feather in his cap" and potentially make him "one of the greatest presidents in history". However, Sir Elton warned that cutting the USAID budget would have "devastating effects" on the global response to HIV.
As awareness requires communication, Sir Elton noted, “If there’s no dialogue, it may take much longer than we hope it will. You can’t walk away after coming so far”.
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Keywords: World AIDS Day
World AIDS Day
