A “celebration of life” demonstration highlights the urgent threat to HIV prevention, treatment, and funding across the United States
Long-term HIV survivors, health advocates, community providers, and faith leaders gathered in Washington, D.C. to stage a symbolic funeral protest and celebration of life, sounding the alarm over growing instability in HIV prevention and care funding across the United States.
Organized by the Save HIV Funding Campaign, the demonstration took place at the Renaissance Arlington Capital View Hotel, the host site for this year’s AIDSWatch conference. Using the imagery of a memorial service, the event warned that decades of progress in the fight against HIV could be reversed if critical prevention and treatment programs continue to face funding threats and policy instability.
The program featured remarks from leading advocates and community voices, including:
- Rev. Elder Carmarion D. Anderson, Minister for Congregational Leadership, United Church of Christ National Ministries
- Jeremiah Johnson, Co-Founder of the Save HIV Funding Campaign and Executive Director of PrEP4All (serving as the event’s “funeral director”)
- Maxx Boykin, Campaign Manager, Save HIV Funding Campaign
- Kamaria Laffrey, Co-Executive Director, SERO Project (Florida)
- Barb Cardell, Program Director, Positive Women’s Network-USA (Colorado)
- Aubrianna Escalera Naranjo, COO & President, Poder Unides Inc. (Georgia)
- Vincent Crisostomo, Director of Aging Services, SF AIDS Foundation (California)
- Paul Aguilar, Author and Activist (California)
- Malcolm Reid, Co-Chair, U.S. People Living with HIV Caucus; Founder & CEO, Unity Arc Advocacy Group (Georgia)
A Warning From the Frontlines
Speakers emphasized that HIV prevention and care systems were built through decades of bipartisan support, forming a public health model that has guided responses to large-scale health crises in the United States.
Jeremiah Johnson shared:
“We’re going to make sure that our policymakers hear us loud and clear: do we invest in life, or do we invest in death? Do we invest in care, or do we invest in bombs? We have to save our care, save our prevention, save our research, save our housing.”
The event brought together advocates and individuals directly impacted by HIV policy decisions, highlighting growing concerns over funding instability affecting prevention services, treatment access, and medication assistance.
Malcolm Reid, delivering a living obituary for himself, added:
“Malcolm’s death was not inevitable. It was planned. It was engineered. Treatment worked when it was uninterrupted. Viral suppression was not a miracle. It was access + consistency + trust. When the system broke that trust… it created funerals.”
The program blended protest with remembrance, incorporating speeches, readings, and gospel elements honoring generations of activists, caregivers, and public health leaders who built today’s HIV response infrastructure.
Advocates warned that weakening federal HIV programs could reverse decades of progress in reducing new infections and expanding access to care.
To support coverage of the current policy landscape, the campaign released the following key points:
- ADAP programs in crisis: 10 states report current deficits; 19 anticipate future shortfalls, threatening medication access
- 35+ years of bipartisan support: Programs like PEPFAR and the Ryan White CARE Act have saved millions of lives
- Cost-effective investment: Every $1 spent on prevention saves $3–$7 in future healthcare costs
- Medicaid impact: Covers ~40% of people living with HIV; expansion increased PrEP access by 33%
- System-wide importance: Funding supports primary care, mental health, housing, and medication access
- 1.2 million Americans living with HIV: Over 500,000 rely on federal programs for care
- Prevention works: PrEP reduces HIV risk by 99%
- Public health infrastructure: HIV programs serve as a model for crisis response (COVID-19, opioid epidemic)
- Equity issue: Black and Latine communities represent over 65% of new diagnoses
