New York: In another controversial move that can have disastrous ramifications, the Trump administration has decided to halt funding for a cure to HIV. This is a $258 million research initiative that can potentially help find a cure for HIV.
The US government’s National Institute of Health (NIH), a body entrusted to research and develop cures for diseases, said its pausing funding for clinical trials of an HIV vaccine developed by Moderna, along with another consortium working to develop a vaccine for HIV.
NIH and the Department of Health and Human Services officials told researchers they wanted “to go with currently available approaches to eliminate HIV” instead.
According to many scientists and federal health officials, the Trump administration officials argue that the current HIV prevention approaches are sufficient.
As HIV doesn’t have a cure yet, many infected patients across the world had pinned their hopes on this research for a cure. HIV drug trials by Moderna have already been put on hold, even as the WHO reported 1.3 million new cases worldwide in 2023.
Previous attempts to develop an HIV vaccine have failed, and the stalled research funding would’ve helped become one of the biggest breakthroughs in health research.
Experts have warned that the research cannot simply continue even if the funding resumes in future, as it would halt the progress of ongoing experiments that require constant monitoring.
Public health experts are now awaiting the US FDA’s June 19 deadline for approving Lenacapavir, an injectable drug to prevent HIV.
