TRUMP AS PRESIDENT: “Six members of the Presidential Advisory Council on HIV/AIDS (PACHA) resigned in protest of the Trump administration, which they allege ‘has no strategy to address the on-going HIV/AIDS epidemic.’
Scott Schoettes, Counsel and HIV Project Director at Lambda Legal, explained in a Newsweek op-ed Friday [6-16-17] that he and five colleagues decided to leave their posts on the council for a number of reasons.
But their largest expressed gripe was that the Trump administration has not sought input from the council when formulating HIV policy.
Schoettes, who is HIV positive, added that the White House is also pushing legislation that would harm people with HIV and ‘reverse gains made in the fight against the disease.’
The decision to resign from government service is not one that any of us take lightly,’ Schoettes wrote on behalf of his colleagues. ‘However, we cannot ignore the many signs that the Trump administration does not take the on-going epidemic or the needs of people living with HIV seriously.’
Lucy Bradley-Springer, Gina Brown, Ulysses W. Burley III, Michelle Ogle and Grissel Granados are the five other members who resigned.”
-Phil Mccausland, “Six Experts Resign From President’s HIV/AIDS Advisory Panel in Protest,” NBC News, June 19, 2017 08:35am