45 Years In, We’re Not Done Yet: NMAC Convenes National Advocacy Roundtable on Capitol Hill to Defend HIV Funding
The high-profile roundtable, hosted in partnership with the Congressional HIV Caucus, Equality Caucus, and the Democratic Task Force on Aging and Families, will take place on Thursday, June 4, 2026, from 9-10:30am at the Rayburn House Office Building, Room 2075. The gathering comes ahead of HIV Long-Term Survivors Awareness Day (June 5) and during a critical appropriations season, as proposed federal cuts threaten HIV prevention, surveillance, research, housing, and other programs that people living with HIV rely on.
"Forty-five years of action brought us to a moment that once felt impossible," said Harold Phillips, CEO of NMAC and moderator of the roundtable. "We have the science, tools, and community leadership to completely end the HIV epidemic. Cutting funding now would abandon the people who have fought and survived to see this moment. We must protect what works and build systems that meet the full needs of people living with HIV."
The roundtable will focus on four themes: aging with HIV, whole person health, equitable access to HIV treatment and prevention, and the congressional action needed to sustain progress. The conversation will center the realities facing people living and aging with HIV and the need for a more coordinated response to the interconnected challenges that continue to drive the epidemic, including poverty, racism, stigma, housing instability, mental health, substance use disorder, and barriers to care.
This event is part of NMAC’s broader effort to protect HIV funding and push for a stronger, more integrated national response. NMAC is calling for sustained federal investment in HIV prevention, treatment, research, and other community-based services, as well as stronger public-private partnerships to support communities most impacted by HIV.
Participants will include former White House Office of National AIDS Policy (ONAP) Directors Jeff Crowley (Obama), Sandra Thurman (Clinton), and Scott Evertz (Bush), who will speak with rare bipartisan authority on what federal commitment requires — and what remains possible by 2030. Public health leaders including Demetre Daskalakis, Jeff Levi (Defending Public Health), and Debra Fraser-Howze (Choose Healthy Life) will address the real-world impact of proposed cuts on communities already facing barriers to care. Private sector representatives from Merck, ViiV, Healthvana, CVS, Walgreens, and the Business Action to End HIV will make the economic case that prevention is a corporate and fiscal imperative, not a government expense alone. And members of Congress and their staff will help to detail potential paths forward through legislation and federal appropriations funding.
An on-the-record press conference will follow the roundtable from 10:30–11:00 AM, featuring remarks from key participants and a Q&A session with credentialed media.
The day will conclude with an invite-only 45th Anniversary Partner Reception from 6:00–8:00 p.m. at Top of the Hill Banquet and Conference Center. The reception will bring together lawmakers, private sector partners, public health leaders, and advocates to honor our long-term survivors, mark 45 years of the HIV movement, and sustain momentum toward ending the epidemic.
“June 1981 marked the beginning of a story defined by loss, courage, activism, and survival,” Phillips said. “June 2026 must mark a recommitment. The next chapter of the HIV movement cannot be a retreat. It must be the blueprint for ending the epidemic.”
Credentialed media are invited to attend the press conference. Briefing materials, including EHE impact data by congressional district and economic modeling on the cost of inaction, are available upon request. Select media access to the evening reception is available by credentialing inquiry.
About NMAC
Launched in 1987 during the early years of the HIV/AIDS crisis in the United States, NMAC is a national HIV organization that offers capacity building, leadership development, policy education, and public engagement to end the HIV epidemic among communities most impacted in the United States. We convene the Biomedical HIV Prevention Summit – the nation’s largest gathering of the HIV/STI workforce focused on enhancing access to HIV prevention including Treatment as Prevention and the U.S. Conference on HIV/AIDS – the nation’s largest gathering for community mobilization and public health education for a whole-person health approach. Visit: www.nmac.org
Jennifer Moore Phillips
NMAC
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