The Cost of Silence: A Call to Protect the Future of HIV Research and Care

This perspective reflects on the legacy of HIV activism and warns against the current dismantling of HIV research and care infrastructure in the U.S. Drawing on voices of long-term survivors and historical parallels, it underscores how silence and neglect once again threaten progress. Despite life-saving tools, clinical trials are being halted, research networks dismantled, and global programs defunded-undoing decades of hard-fought gains. The consequences are deadly, particularly for marginalized communities. History is watching. As before, the HIV community and allies must mobilize to resist cruelty, protect vulnerable lives, and fight for justice, dignity, and the future we were promised.