As infectious diseases like measles, salmonella, and hepatitis quietly spread across the U.S., the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has gone largely silent.
Of particular concern for Atlanta residents is the CDC’s lack of communication about HIV.
According to the CDC, Georgia had the second-highest HIV diagnosis rate and the second-highest rate of HIV related deaths in 2023 in the U.S.
Additionally, Georgia had the highest rate of new HIV infections in 2022. In addition, despite comprising about 32% of Georgia’s population, Black people accounted for approximately 71% of new HIV diagnoses in 2021.
Since early 2025, the Atlanta-based CDC has sharply scaled back its public communications, halting health alerts and pausing activity on key social media channels, according to a report by NPR. The changes began shortly after President Donald Trump was inaugurated in January, when the Department of Health and Human Services instructed the CDC and other health agencies to pause any collaboration with people outside the agency.
Until recently, the CDC regularly distributed health information through more than 150 newsletters and reached tens of thousands of recipients, including doctors and laboratories that depended on the updates to inform patient care, according to NPR.
The agency also regularly made use of their social media platforms to disseminate information to its more than 12 million followers across Facebook, Instagram, X, and LinkedIn.
In recent CDC publications, data related to HIV has lacked information or experienced delays. In a release from April on HIV prevalence, the organization noted that it “does not include data on PrEP coverage,” referring to the preventative medication taken to reduce the risk of HIV infection. The CDC explained that it is currently “unable to resume PrEP coverage at this time, due to a reduction in force affecting the Division of HIV Prevention (DHP).”
HIV research and prevention advocacy groups warn that the loss of staff at the DHP could have detrimental impacts on the country’s pursuit in reducing the number of HIV cases.
“The continued cuts to CDC coupled with the proposed cuts to our healthcare infrastructure (like the cuts to Medicaid and Medicare through the big Beautiful Bill passed out of the house last week) leaves our state and country more vulnerable to pandemics including HIV,” said Maximillian Boykin with PrEP4All, an HIV medication advocacy group, in an email to Capital B Atlanta.
“This comes in direct contrast to the president’s promise to end HIV by 2030 in the United States. The cuts to CDC leave less people in the state of Georgia employed along with … [making] our country less healthier, and less capable of dealing with HIV and any other pandemic that could come along,” said Boykin.
The HIV+Hepatitis Policy Institute described the staff cuts as a “decimation” of the nation’s ability to prevent HIV, noting that the expertise lost cannot be easily replaced and will have long-term negative effects on public health.
The National Alliance of State and Territorial AIDS Directors, or NASTAD, reported that entire branches within the DHP, including Behavioral & Clinical Surveillance, HIV Research, and Prevention Communication, have been eliminated. This significantly hampers the nation’s ability to track and respond to HIV outbreaks effectively.
The reduction of employees across the CDC has also affected other areas of concern for Black residents. Back in April, three employees — two of whom had recently received layoff notices — told Capital B Atlanta that the CDC’s labor force reductions in Atlanta were concentrated in areas of health study that have an outsized impact on Black people, including HIV/AIDS, tuberculosis, gun violence, and youth violence.
