San Francisco HIV Prevention Funding Cut by $8 Million

CDC terminates grants, putting city's HIV monitoring and care at risk

Published on Feb. 14, 2026

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The San Francisco Department of Public Health announced that the federal government has terminated four previously awarded Centers for Disease Control and Prevention grants totaling more than $8 million, which city officials warn could disrupt HIV prevention, disease monitoring, and frontline care.

Why it matters

This funding cut threatens San Francisco's ability to accurately track HIV cases, provide prevention and treatment services, and maintain a trained public health workforce focused on the city's HIV epidemic. The loss of this federal funding comes as part of a broader clash between the Trump administration and several Democratic-led states over more than $600 million in CDC grants.

The details

The affected grants include funding for public health infrastructure, disease surveillance, and HIV prevention. Without this support, San Francisco officials say critical infrastructure used to monitor emerging threats and coordinate response efforts would stall. The fallout extends beyond San Francisco, with other Bay Area counties also facing the loss of CDC funding that supports staff, disease tracking, and data modernization.

  • On February 13, 2026, the San Francisco Department of Public Health received notice that the CDC grants had been terminated.
  • This week, attorneys general in California, Colorado, Illinois, and Minnesota sued the federal government, arguing the CDC grant cuts are unlawful and politically motivated.

The players

San Francisco Department of Public Health

The local public health agency that oversees HIV prevention, disease monitoring, and frontline care in San Francisco.

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC)

The federal agency that previously awarded the grants now being terminated, which provided funding for public health infrastructure, disease surveillance, and HIV prevention in San Francisco and other parts of the Bay Area.

Rob Bonta

The Attorney General of California, who has called the CDC grant cuts illegal retaliation and said they would 'irreparably harm' public health systems.

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What they’re saying

“The loss of 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.'”

— San Francisco Department of Public Health (sfchronicle.com)

“'I've said it before, and I'll say it again: If President Trump and those who work for him want to stop losing in court, they should stop breaking the law.'”

— Rob Bonta, California Attorney General (sfchronicle.com)

What’s next

A federal judge in Illinois has issued a 14-day temporary restraining order blocking the termination of the CDC grants, but the long-term future of this funding remains uncertain.

The takeaway

This funding cut threatens to undermine San Francisco's progress in combating HIV and could have ripple effects across the Bay Area, highlighting the broader political tensions over public health funding under the Trump administration.