SF losing $8 million in HIV grant funding, impacting treatment and prevention services

SAN FRANCISCO (KGO) -- The San Francisco Department of Public Health says the Centers for Disease Control is pulling $8 million in grants.

The department says the loss of funding will make it harder to monitor and advance the San Francisco's HIV prevention efforts and provide HIV and STI prevention and treatment services.

"The federal government's termination of more than $8 million of planned funding will not only impact direct core services and patient care, but it will significantly harm San Francisco's efforts keep our community healthy, reduce health disparities, reduce HIV and STI transmission, and build a healthier and more resilient City," the SFDPH said in a press release.

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The Trump Administration announced $600 million in cuts to California and three other states earlier this week, citing alleged fraud and mismanagement.

The White House also said the grants no longer reflect CDC priorities.

"Right now, how this would play out is we would not be able to track STDs," said Dr. Monica Gandhi, an infectious disease expert at UCSF. "The DPH agencies that (Trump) is targeting look at STD and HIV tracking, so sexually transmitted infections -- syphilis, chlamydia, gonorrhea. We both track then, importantly, we know how to prevent."

California is suing the Trump administration, arguing the loss of funding is a political move.

"The hope would be like so many things, there's going to be lawsuits that these would be reversed. That did happen with NIH," Ghandi said. "That's the hope."