South Florida HIV preventative care is in jeopardy after millions of dollars in federal health care funding were cut.
Miami-Dade County represents the highest rate of new HIV diagnoses in the United States. While Florida overall ranks 3rd among states with the most newly reported cases.
"These cuts have real time implications for us here, not in abstract numbers, but real human lives, and the reversal of some of our most hard won progress in the fight against HIV," said Dr. Elizabeth Sherman — an HIV clinical pharmacy specialist and an associate professor at Nova Southeastern University.
Multiple grants for prevention efforts were shuttered in June.
"It's rather inefficient to wipe out our nation's established successful programs to prevent infectious diseases like HIV," Sherman said.
Many clinics across the state have already paused their free HIV testing programs.
READ MORE: Trump's funding cuts threaten HIV research and treatment in South Florida
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