Advertisement

Trump says U.S. can end HIV within 10 years, critics say his own policies haven’t helped

Click to play video: 'State of the Union: Trump says ‘we will defeat AIDS’ within 10 years'
State of the Union: Trump says ‘we will defeat AIDS’ within 10 years
WATCH: Trump says 'we will defeat AIDS' within 10 years – Feb 5, 2019

U.S. President Donald Trump used his State of the Union address to call for the eradication of HIV and AIDS in the U.S. within 10 years, but critics say his administration’s policies have hurt the fight against the disease.

Speaking to a joint session of Congress during his State of the Union address, Trump said the U.S. could be free of the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) that causes AIDS within a decade if he secures funding under his national budget.

READ MORE: Bill Gates says Donald Trump asked if ‘there was a difference between HIV and HPV’ — twice

“In recent years we have made remarkable progress in the fight against HIV and AIDS. Scientific breakthroughs have brought a once-distant dream within reach,” Trump said. “My budget will ask Democrats and Republicans to make the needed commitment to eliminate the HIV epidemic in the United States within 10 years.

Story continues below advertisement

“We have made incredible strides, incredible,” he continued. “Together, we will defeat AIDS in America and beyond.”

President Donald Trump delivers the State of the Union address at the Capitol in Washington, D.C., Feb. 5, 2019.
President Donald Trump delivers the State of the Union address at the Capitol in Washington, D.C., Feb. 5, 2019. Doug Mills/Pool via REUTERS

Trump had been widely expected to announce a drive to eliminate HIV transmissions by 2030, with many critics accusing him of hypocrisy even before Tuesday’s address.

Prior to the speech, the largest LGBTQ rights lobby group in the U.S. took the Trump administration’s record on HIV to task.

“If this administration wants to combat the spread of HIV, they need to immediately end their efforts to cut Medicaid funding, undermine the Affordable Care Act and license discrimination against the most at-risk communities when they seek healthcare,” said David Stacy, director of government affairs at the Human Rights Campaign (HRC).

“This administration simply cannot achieve this goal while, at the same time, charging forward with attacks on health care for the communities most impacted by HIV. The American public deserves a real commitment from their government to end the HIV epidemic.”

Story continues below advertisement

WATCH: President Donald Trump enters House chamber to deliver State of the Union address

Click to play video: 'State of the Union 2019: President Donald Trump enters House chamber'
State of the Union 2019: President Donald Trump enters House chamber

The organization pointed out that the White House in 2017 proposed a federal budget that would have cut funding for global HIV-prevention programs by over $1 billion.

Later that year, Trump fired all the members of his presidential advisory council on HIV/AIDS, the Washington Post reported.

Receive the latest medical news and health information delivered to you every Sunday.

Get weekly health news

Receive the latest medical news and health information delivered to you every Sunday.
By providing your email address, you have read and agree to Global News' Terms and Conditions and Privacy Policy.

READ MORE: Donald Trump fires remaining HIV/AIDS council members

This past December, the magazine of the American Association for the Advancement of Science reported that the Trump administration blocked scientists from acquiring fetal tissue for experiments related to AIDS.

One of the experiments was using fetal tissue — donated by women who had legal abortions — to investigate how HIV affects human tissues.

Story continues below advertisement

WATCH: Trump says he’ll push to prohibit late-term abortion

Click to play video: 'State of the Union: Trump says he’ll push to prohibit late-term abortion'
State of the Union: Trump says he’ll push to prohibit late-term abortion

Vice President Mike Pence’s record on AIDS has also come under scrutiny in recent years, as he presided over the worst outbreak of the disease in the history of the state of Indiana during his tenure as governor.

A 2017 study in the journal AIDS and Behavior said Pence “fueled the HIV outbreak by prohibiting needle/syringe exchange and failed to take substantive action once the outbreak was identified.”

It added that Pence “chose stagnation on the basis of moral superiority, while thousands of his constituents senselessly risked exposure to HIV.”

READ MORE: Trump vows support to anti-abortion marchers in Washington

Following Trump’s State of the Union address, several Democratic lawmakers took to Twitter to accuse him of hypocrisy.

Story continues below advertisement

Story continues below advertisement

Story continues below advertisement

Over a million people in the U.S. are living with HIV, according to U.S. government statistic, with about 40,000 new cases of HIV infection each year.

A red ribbon in recognition of World AIDS Day hangs from the North Portico of the White House in Washington, D.C, Dec. 1, 2017.
A red ribbon in recognition of World AIDS Day hangs from the North Portico of the White House in Washington, D.C, Dec. 1, 2017. SAUL LOEB/AFP/Getty Images

Senior public health officials say Trump’s campaign to end the HIV epidemic will focus on areas where about half of new HIV cases occur. That includes 48 counties, Washington, D.C., Puerto Rico, and seven states with at-risk rural residents.

Around 37 million people around the world have HIV, according to a 2018 report by United Nations’ HIV/AIDS body UNAIDS.

— With a file from the Associated Press

Sponsored content

AdChoices