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Advocates Protest Declining HIV Funding in Washington, D.C.
Long-term survivors, health providers, and faith leaders gather for symbolic funeral to sound alarm over instability in HIV prevention and care funding.
Mar. 27, 2026 at 12:24pm by Ben Kaplan
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On March 16, 2026, long-term HIV survivors, health advocates, community health providers, and faith leaders gathered in Washington, D.C. to hold a symbolic funeral protest and celebration of life service. The event, organized by the Save HIV Funding Campaign, aimed to sound the alarm over the growing instability in HIV prevention and care funding across the United States and the impact on the country's national healthcare infrastructure.
Why it matters
The HIV response has served as a model for how the U.S. responds to large-scale health emergencies, and weakening these programs puts vulnerable communities at risk and dismantles a critical public health framework.
The details
The event was held at the Renaissance Arlington Capital View Hotel and featured speakers like Rev. Elder Carmarion D. Anderson, Jeremiah Johnson of the Save HIV Funding Campaign, and Vincent Crisostomo of the San Francisco AIDS Foundation. The speakers emphasized that the systems supporting HIV prevention, treatment, and care were built with bipartisan support over decades, and warned that the growing instability in funding threatens these vital programs.
- The protest was held on March 16, 2026.
The players
Save HIV Funding Campaign
An organization that held the protest in Washington, D.C. to sound the alarm over declining HIV prevention and care funding.
Rev. Elder Carmarion D. Anderson
Minister for Congregational Leadership at the United Church of Christ National Ministries and a speaker at the protest.
Jeremiah Johnson
Co-Founder and Executive Director of PrEP4All, who acted as the 'funeral director' for the protest.
Maxx Boykin
Campaign Manager for the Save HIV Funding Campaign and a speaker at the protest.
Vincent Crisostomo
Director of Aging Services at the San Francisco AIDS Foundation and a speaker at the protest.
What they’re saying
“The systems supporting HIV prevention, treatment, and care were built with bipartisan support over decades. We must not let them be dismantled.”
— Jeremiah Johnson, Co-Founder and Executive Director, PrEP4All
“Weakening these programs not only puts vulnerable communities at risk, but also dismantles a public health model pioneered by the HIV response that has guided how the U.S. responds to large-scale health emergencies.”
— Vincent Crisostomo, Director of Aging Services, San Francisco AIDS Foundation
What’s next
The Save HIV Funding Campaign plans to continue advocating for stable and robust funding for HIV prevention, treatment, and care programs across the United States.
The takeaway
The protest highlights the critical importance of maintaining the public health infrastructure built around the HIV response, which has served as a model for addressing large-scale health crises. Weakening this framework puts vulnerable communities at risk and undermines the country's ability to effectively respond to future health emergencies.
