Mass layoffs across the US Department of Health (HHS) could have “dangerous” effects on the prevention of HIV and sexually transmitted infections (STIs), not-for-profit groups have warned.

More than 10,000 HHS positions have reportedly disappeared since Robert F Kennedy Jr, better-known as RFK Jr, became secretary of health. Among them are positions in the Office of Infectious Disease and HIV/Aids Policy, as well as at the world-famous Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).

Other key areas affected include jobs in STI and HIV response teams, the dismantling of the PrEP Implementation Branch, and cutbacks on HIV awareness campaigns.

RFK Jr is notorious for his conspiratorial views on healthcare and medical treatment, especially when it comes to LGBTQ+ care. The vaccine sceptic once claimed that chemicals in the atmosphere could be turning children trans.

His latest move, which comes as part of a series of firings and cuts to federal funding by the Trump administration, was branded “irresponsible” by experts and civil rights groups, who warned that it was likely to have dangerous effects.

The Human Rights Campaign (HRC) urged the government to reconsider, arguing that the plans would have “devastating consequences” for public health, particularly in the LGBTQ+ community, which have been “historically side-lined” when it comes to healthcare.

The advocacy group warned that actions such as further dismantling PrEP distribution branches would reduce access to vital information and resources about the preventative drug, which, it claimed, could risk “higher HIV rates”.

The cuts to the CDC would potentially cause vital data on HIV treatment to disappear and significantly delay “access to newer, more-effective treatments, particularly for marginalised groups”.

Matthew Rose, a social-justice advocate at HRC, branded the HHS cutbacks “irresponsible and dangerous” and risked more than just people’s jobs.

“[The layoffs] are a direct blow to the health and well-being of LGBTQ+ communities around the nation,” he said. “Without vital surveillance, prevention programmes that expand access to PrEP, and data collection, we risk undoing years of progress in the fight against HIV and STIs.”

US could lose ability to ‘prevent HIV cases’

Elsewhere, the HIV+ Hepatitis Policy Institute warned that the US risked losing its ability to prevent further cases “in just a couple days”.

The organisation’s executive director, Carl Schmid, told the Washington Blade: “The expertise of the staff, along with their decades of leadership, has now been destroyed and cannot be replaced. We will feel the impacts of these decisions for years to come and it will certainly translate into an increase in new HIV infections and higher medical costs.”

Analysis of international HIV aid cuts in the US, France, the UK, Germany and the Netherlands showed that global cases could increase by 10 million by 2030, while HIV-related deaths might rise by 2.9 million by the start of the next decade.

Researchers at the Burnet Institute, in Australia, have cautioned that global infection rates could rocket if further cuts are made.

Anne Aslett, the chief executive of the Elton John Aids Foundation, said that if HIV funding was cut further, “millions more people will get sick, and health budgets will simply not be able to cope.”

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