The Ryan White HIV/AIDS Program: Critical to Efforts to End the HIV Epidemic

Clinical Takeaway

: Even a brief interruption in Ryan White HIV/AIDS Program services would lead to an increase of tens of thousands of HIV infections in 31 U.S. cities.

Context

The Ryan White HIV/AIDS Program (RWHAP) provides assistance for medical and support services and prescription costs for patients with HIV as a “payer of last resort.” Patients receiving RWHAP support have rates of viral suppression that exceed those not in the program. The future of the program has been debated in some recent federal budget proposals.

Now, researchers have modeled the number of excess HIV infections between 2025 and 2030 in 31 U.S. cities in three scenarios after pausing services in July 2025: (1) permanent cessation, (2) a resumption in January 2027 (brief interruption), or (3) resumption in January 2029 (prolonged interruption), all compared with RWHAP continuation. A second, more conservative calculation of excess …

Reviewing Author

Wendy S. Armstrong, MD

Disclosures

Consultant/Advisory BoardNIH Therapeutics and Prevention Data Safety Monitoring Board

Leadership Positions in Professional SocietiesAmerican Board of Internal Medicine Infectious Diseases Subspecialty Board (member), Infectious Diseases Society of America (Vice President)