The CDC cut $29.2M in HIV prevention funding from Texas by letting grant PS21-2102 expire September 30, 2026; Texas was the nation's largest beneficiary, with 11 community-based organizations funded over five years. A one-time $5.2M replacement award to the Texas Department of State Health Services runs only through May 2027, with just $1.2M flowing to nonprofits. Texas ranks fifth in new HIV diagnoses per capita, and NIH separately eliminated $759M in HIV research grants in 2025.
PS21-2102 grant elimination
- ▪Following the PS21-2102 expiration, the CDC awarded the Texas Department of State Health Services over $5.2 million as a one-time replacement pot of money through May 2027
- ▪Texas was the nation's largest beneficiary of CDC grant PS21-2102 funding, with grant money going to 11 community-based organizations over five years
- ▪The CDC cut $29.2 million in HIV prevention funding from Texas health organizations by allowing the PS21-2102 grant to expire
- ▪Of the $5.2 million awarded to the Texas Department of State Health Services, approximately $1.2 million — almost a quarter — will flow to community-based organizations
- ▪PS21-2102 was rolled out in 2021 and provided $239 million to community-based organizations across the United States
Community-based organization impact
- ▪Vivent Health's PS21-2102 award made up 30% of the organization's funding for HIV prevention in Austin
- ▪Black Efforts Against the Threat of AIDS in San Antonio was the nation's largest recipient of PS21-2102 money, with the grant covering 20% of approximately 5,000 HIV tests the organization administered annually
- ▪Allies in Hope in Houston received approximately $441,000 annually from CDC grant PS21-2102 starting in 2021, which covered more than a quarter of the 2,000 HIV tests the organization administers yearly
- ▪Texas community-based organizations had been receiving more than $3 million annually from the CDC through PS21-2102, a sum far exceeding the $1.2 million they will receive from the one-time replacement award to the Texas Department of State Health Services
CBO testing effectiveness
- ▪The HIV-positive diagnosis rate for CDC-funded tests at community-based organizations was three times as high as the rate for CDC-funded tests at local health departments between 2012 and 2017
- ▪Community-based organizations reach vulnerable groups by setting up testing stations at locations such as bars or nightclubs, making them more efficient at finding HIV-positive individuals than clinics
- ▪Between 2012 and 2017, community-based organizations diagnosed a new case of HIV in 1.4% of CDC-funded tests, compared to only 0.5% for CDC-funded tests administered by local health departments
Broader HIV funding cuts
- ▪Texas ranks fifth in the nation for new HIV diagnoses per capita, according to 2024 data from AIDSVu, a mapping tool developed at Emory University in partnership with Gilead Sciences
- ▪In 2025, the National Institutes of Health eliminated at least $759 million in grants for HIV research
- ▪The federal government slashed public health funding to Texas beyond HIV prevention, including pandemic-era grant money for immunization efforts, lab capacity, and investigation of infectious disease outbreaks
- ▪The Trump administration sought to eliminate or alter numerous HIV-related programs, including the Ending the HIV Epidemic initiative, part of the Ryan White HIV/AIDS Program, and a program supporting housing for people living with AIDS
State-level funding response
- ▪State health departments receiving the CDC's one-time replacement HIV funding are encouraged but not required to send 10% of those funds to community-based organizations
- ▪Texas state lawmakers were considering replacement HIV prevention funding at the state level going into the next legislative session following the cuts to CDC grant PS21-2102
- ▪Texas state Representative Venton Jones, a Dallas Democrat and the first openly HIV-positive lawmaker to serve in the Texas Legislature, vowed to work to replace the eliminated federal HIV prevention dollars
Perspective of Texas community-based HIV organizations
- ▪Black Efforts Against the Threat of AIDS, the nation's largest recipient of CDC grant PS21-2102, faces loss of funding that covered 20% of its roughly 5,000 annual HIV tests
- ▪Texas community-based organizations will receive only $1.2 million from the CDC replacement award, down from more than $3 million annually under PS21-2102
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