‘Witch-hunt’ in Niger as military regime rounds up LGBTQ+ population

A “witch-hunt” is under way in Niger, where dozens of people have been arrested for homosexuality in the west African state following the introduction of a new penal code earlier this year...

 https://www.theguardian.com/world/2026/jul/01/witch-hunt-in-niger-as-military-regime-rounds-up-lgbtq-population

 

 

‘A matter of life or death’: the activists confronting Congress about slashing HIV funding

The Trump administration’s new Medicaid rules, issued this month as part of the One Big, Beautiful Bill Act, require millions of low-income Americans to prove they are working, studying or otherwise active for at least 80 hours a month just to keep their health coverage. It’s a paperwork hurdle that could cost 5 million to 10 million people their Medicaid by 2028, the Urban Institute estimates. For the roughly 40% of Americans with HIV who rely on Medicaid at any given time, and the 85% who depend on it at some point in their lives, the new rules could cost them their lives. 

“For people with HIV, that’s a matter of life or death, because if your treatment is interrupted, even for a short time, you can lose viral load suppression,” said Virginia Shubert, a senior policy adviser at Housing Works, the New York City advocacy organization dedicated to ending the HIV/Aids and homelessness crises. “It goes beyond the law, and it’s very cruel.”…

https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2026/jun/22/us-hiv-aids-funding-cuts-activism

 

Strict Medicaid work rules could harm people with serious illnesses, advocates say : NPR

The nearly 400-page interim final rule released Monday makes that process even harder. For months, federal officials have been meeting with states informally and giving them guidance, and states understood that people with conditions where continuous health insurance coverage was really important would be exempt. 

"What the rule says, as published, is that that's actually not enough," McIntyre explains. "The condition or the disease needs to be actively interfering with your ability to work. So people with early stage cancer who are in radiation treatment but still have the capacity to work, or people who have HIV but can still technically work, are not exempted from the work requirement." 

 McIntyre and others foresee situations where a person newly diagnosed with cancer, who is working, loses Medicaid because they don't fill out the paperwork correctly. That could lead to patients losing coverage when they need it most…

 https://www.npr.org/2026/06/03/nx-s1-5845097/medicaid-work-requirements-cuts-hiv-cancer

Aid cuts have shaken HIV/Aids care to its core – and will mean millions more infections ahead

Reports highlight devastating impact of slashed funding, especially in parts of Africa, that could lead to 3.3m new HIV infections by 2030…

https://www.theguardian.com/global-development/2025/dec/01/global-health-hiv-aids-funding-cuts-infections-prevention

 

Trump’s USAID pause stranded lifesaving drugs. Children died waiting. - Washington Post

A pipeline thrown into chaos… A surge in malaria deaths…

https://www.washingtonpost.com/investigations/interactive/2025/usaid-trump-malaria-hiv-drugs-death/

South Africa is at the heart of the HIV pandemic. What happens now the money has been cut? | Global development | The Guardian

"South Africa is particularly revolting, because they actually do have the resources."

https://www.theguardian.com/global-development/2025/jun/17/hiv-aids-south-africa-despair-trump-us-cuts-pepfar-clinics-sex-workers-trans-drug-users 

 

Breakthrough in search for HIV cure leaves researchers ‘overwhelmed’ | Global development | The Guardian

A cure for HIV could be a step closer after researchers found a new way to force the virus out of hiding inside human cells...

https://www.theguardian.com/global-development/2025/jun/05/breakthrough-in-search-for-hiv-cure-leaves-researchers-overwhelmed 

 

This doctor calls LGBTQ+ rights ‘satanic’. He could now undo healthcare for millions | US supreme court | The Guardian

Steven Hotze, a Republican donor from Texas, has spent decades fighting against LGBTQ+ rights, with campaigns seeking to roll back protections for people he has deemed "termites", "morally degenerate" and "satanic"…

https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025/may/23/supreme-court-case-steven-hotze-hiv-prep 

 

US evangelical groups urge Trump to spare HIV/Aids program from aid cuts

Christian organizations helped create Pepfar, credited with preventing 25m early deaths, particularly in Africa…

https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025/mar/17/hiv-aids-pepfar-christians-trump

US shutdown of HIV/Aids funding ‘could lead to 500,000 deaths in South Africa’

USAid cuts to clinics dispensing antiretroviral drugs will be 'death sentence for mothers and children', expert warns…

https://www.theguardian.com/global-development/2025/feb/28/usaid-funding-health-development-hiv-aids-antiretroviral-mothers-lgbt-sex-workers-south-africa

UN AIDS agency says HIV infections could soar worldwide if U.S. drops support | PBS News

More than 20 years ago, the U.S. became the leader in the worldwide fight against HIV/AIDS. The Bush administration initiative Pepfar was the largest health commitment made by a nation to combat a single disease. But Trump's cuts have thrown the initiative into a tailspin. Stephanie Sy discussed the shift in HIV funding with Angeli Achrekar of UNAIDS, which provides services in 55 countries…

https://www.pbs.org/newshour/show/un-aids-agency-says-hiv-infections-could-soar-worldwide-if-u-s-drops-support 

 

Robert F. Kennedy Jr. is crazier than you think

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-t2O3MHTRNM

Obamacare is under attack by GOP judges again. Here’s what’s at stake in Braidwood Management v. Becerra. - Vox

…O'Connor sides with an anti-LGBTQ employer who objects to the fact that the federal government currently requires health insurers to cover pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) HIV prevention medication. These are drugs which people who are HIV-negative can take to dramatically reduce their risk of contracting the virus. One of the Braidwood plaintiffs objects to PrEP because he claims that it "facilitates and encourages homosexual behavior, intravenous drug use, and sexual activity outside of marriage between one man and one woman," and he claims that his religion prevents him from offering insurance to his employees that includes coverage of PrEP… 

 …But it is likely that, as this case proceeds, it will get worse for Obamacare — and for the health of the American people...

https://www.vox.com/policy-and-politics/2022/9/7/23341076/obamacare-reed-oconnor-prep-supreme-court-braidwood-becerra-affordable-care-act

They came for Roe. Now, one right-wing lawyer is coming for PrEP, the medicine that prevents HIV

In his case, Kelley v. the United States of America, Mitchell argues that each of his clients (the plaintiffs) are "Christian"  and therefore "unwilling to purchase health insurance that subsidizes abortifacient contraception or PrEP drugs that encourage and facilitate homosexual behavior."
https://www.dailykos.com/story/2022/7/15/2110606/-They-came-for-Roe-Now-one-right-wing-lawyer-is-coming-for-PrEP-the-medicine-that-prevents-HIV

Ron Johnson takes his anti-vaccine rhetoric to a weird new place - The Washington Post

Johnson expressed openness to Callender's idea that maybe the coronavirus vaccines are a conduit for deliberately giving people AIDS...

https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2022/05/03/ron-johnson-takes-his-anti-vaccine-rhetoric-weird-new-place/

Republicans rebel against a powerful anti-opioid tool - POLITICO

…Needle exchanges, which have been in existence for decades, also provide a link to other services, such as drug counseling, as well as public health measures to reduce the spread of disease. People who use their services are five times more likely to begin drug treatment and three times more likely to stop using drugs than others who don't use the program, according to data compiled by the CDC…

https://www.politico.com/news/2021/06/10/republicans-opioids-needle-exchange-492814

White House looks at cutting Covid funds, newborn screenings in ‘anarchist’ cities - POLITICO

"My Administration will do everything in its power to prevent weak mayors and lawless cities from taking Federal dollars while they let anarchists harm people, burn buildings, and ruin lives and businesses," Trump tweeted shortly after releasing the Sept. 2 defunding memo.....

https://www.politico.com/news/2020/10/20/white-house-cuts-city-funds-coronavirus-430498

U.S. sues drugmaker Gilead Sciences over patent on Truvada for HIV prevention - The Washington Post

A rift between the Centers for Disease Control and pharmaceutical giant Gilead Sciences ruptured further Wednesday when the Trump administration sued Gilead in U.S. District Court, asserting that Gilead made billions of dollars on HIV prevention therapy while repeatedly ignoring government patents.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/economy/trump-administration-sues-drugmaker-gilead-sciences-over-patent-on-truvada-for-hiv-prevention/2019/11/06/68b1cc52-010c-11ea-8501-2a7123a38c58_story.html

Scientists say they found a cure for HIV in some mice. Humans could be next - The Washington Post

The breakthrough, detailed earlier this week in a study credited to more than 30 scientists from Temple University and the University of Nebraska Medical Center, was made possible by an antiviral drug in combination with the tool called CRISPR that can edit genes. The researchers eliminated HIV in nine of 23 mice that were modified so their immune systems better mimicked those of humans...
https://www.washingtonpost.com/health/2019/07/04/scientists-say-they-found-cure-hiv-mice-humans-could-be-next/

New restriction on fetal tissue research ‘was the president’s decision’ - The Washington Post

The Trump administration on Wednesday ended funding of medical research by government scientists using fetal tissue and canceled a multimillion-dollar contract for a university laboratory that relies on the material to test new HIV therapies...
https://www.washingtonpost.com/health/trump-administration-imposes-new-restrictions-on-fetal-tissue-research/2019/06/05/b13433c0-8709-11e9-a491-25df61c78dc4_story.html