World AIDS Day In 2025

Since 1988, December 1 has served as International World AIDS Day, an opportunity to not only mourn those lost by the HIV epidemic, but to raise awareness and erase the stigma of a widely misunderstood disease. This year, World AIDS Day carried even more significance for HIV organizations in the face of widespread rollbacks and cuts, and a White House that no longer commemorated the day.

According to reporting from The New York Times, the State Department instructed employees to “refrain from publicly promoting World AIDS Day through any communication channels, including social media, media engagements, speeches or other public-facing messaging.” No response was issued by the Trump administration about the decree, but a senior administration official pointed out the day was started by the World Health Organization, which the White House has withdrawn from. And their social media accounts remained silent about the day.

This new order from the White House to ignore World AIDS Day comes as funding for HIV prevention has dropped swiftly, mostly through the elimination of USAID (the United States Agency for International Development). A report from the United Nations notes that this year represents one of the biggest setbacks to HIV treatment and prevention in decades. And modelling from the United Nations shows there could be a millions of new HIV infections and deaths over the next five years if these cuts continue.

But amidst the chaos and confusion, centers in Texas that provide care and treatment for HIV are persisting. One of those places is the Resource Center in Dallas, one of the largest LGBTQIA+ community centers in the country. A preeminent HIV and AIDS service organization of north Texas, the Resource Center serves over 60,000 people each year through their staff and volunteers.

The Signal spoke with both CEO Cece Cox and Chief Medical Officer Dr. Doug Hardy just before World AIDS Day to gage how their organization has been responding to the funding turmoil, and other major concerns facing health care centers. Cox noted that there’s a dual concern for places like the Resource Center at the moment: that overall drop in funding for AIDS treatment around the world and the profound changes that are happening to the social safety net in the United States.

Health insurance is expected to rise precipitously for millions of Texans as ACA subsidies expire. Texas, which already has the highest uninsured rate in the nation, could see even more of its residents opt out of health insurance if they feel priced out. And because Texas is a state that has not expanded Medicaid, so many of its residents already fall into a coverage gap that makes them ineligible for traditional Medicaid.

For Dr. Hardy, he too is concerned about what this will mean. “Apprehensive” is how he describes the mood during this current moment for the Resource Center. Dr. Hardy stressed that the Resource Center sees patients with insurance and without insurance, and that an HIV test can be obtained by anyone in a safe and non-judgmental setting.

HIV prevention is also a critical part of the Resource Center, chiefly through prescribing PrEP (Pre-exposure Prophylaxis), daily medication that vastly reduces the risk of contracting HIV. Dr. Hardy pointed out that getting prevention medication to as many people as possible is not only medically and morally right, economically it makes a lot of sense. Though treatment and care for patients with HIV and AIDS has come a long way since the disease was first recorded in the 1980’s, it’s still expensive, coming out to nearly a million dollars over a lifetime. 

For both Cox and Hardy, the massive cuts to programs that treat or raise awareness about AIDS are hard to comprehend. Especially because the first Trump administration launched a campaign to try and end the HIV epidemic in 2030.

Facing all these headwinds, the Resource Center is committed to maintaining its status as a welcoming place to access treatment or prevention care for HIV. Both Cox and Hardy also want to stress that tele-health is a major component of the Resource Center, which has opened up opportunities for care beyond Dallas County.

The Resource Center also serves as a food pantry, which is an important service given the rise of food insecurity in Texas. Access to food is obviously key to maintaining a healthy lifestyle, but it also helps keep down nausea with HIV medication. 

With another World AIDS Day celebrated, Dr. Hardy is reflective on not only the past, but the very important present. “People need to understand that [HIV and AIDS] is present, and still a very major part of medical care and people can be at risk even if they are not what they think of us a high-risk community.” 

Women now account for about 1 in 5 new diagnoses for HIV in the United States, with Black women in particular disproportionately affected. A lot of the work the Resource Center has undertaken recently has been trying to reach populations that most need care, treatment, and prevention measures.

For Cox, a place like the Resource Center is an invaluable tool every day of the year, not just December 1. And while it’s always important to look back, the Resource Center is compelled to a future-forward mindset. “We are expanding our health services because we know the needs continue to grow, but there’s a lot of folks that are not in adequate medical care and we are here for them.”