Tracking Trump's decision to increase preventable HIV deaths
PEPFAR Impact Tracker estimates impact of suspending support for HIV prevention, diagnosis, and treatment
The first post to this blog documented the callous disregard for truth and fiction when Jay Bhattacharya and Marty Makary, nominated to head the NIH and FDA, respectively, promoted a documentary that lies about HIV and other infectious diseases in order to baselessly attack their colleagues.
A new website, the PEPFAR Impact Tracker, is now documenting in real time the impact of staffing the government with people who lie about HIV or are simply disinterested in a highly cost-effective way to prevent deaths.
This is a pivotal moment; some of the funding for PEPFAR has been restored, saving lives. Yet, the Senate will soon vote whether or not to confirm Robert F. Kennedy Jr. as HHS secretary. RFK Jr. does not see PEPFAR preventing deaths as worthwhile. In fact, in his recent book, The Real Anthony Fauci, RFK Jr. questions whether HIV even exists. Instead, RFK Jr. describes PEPFAR merely as a vehicle utilized by characters in his conspiracy theory to amass power or enrich themselves.
This chaos with no regard for public health is costing lives—lives of an additional 18 adults and 2 children since I took the screenshot above.
