
The remaining members of the Presidential Advisory Council on HIV/AIDS were fired en masse this week.
Trump's relationship with the council has been beset by controversy, with six staffers quitting in June amidst discontent as to how the president has been handling the epidemic of HIV/AIDS.
Newsweek reports that the 16 members received their notice of termination by FedEx mail on Wednesday.
Jim Driscoll, a Trump supporter who served on the council under President George W. Bush, defended the firings by saying they're "standard practice" for a new administration.
The Trump administration still hasn't appointed a director to the Office of National AIDS Policy.
"The Trump Administration has no strategy to address the on-going HIV/AIDS epidemic, seeks zero input from experts to formulate HIV policy", Scott Schoettes, a lawyer with the LGBT rights organisation Lambda Legal who had resigned this summer, told the Washington Post.
"Changing the makeup of federal advisory committee members is a common occurrence during administration changes", Hayes said in the statement. 'Many of us were Obama appointees.
More news: Husband in Custody, Cops Suspended in Young Brooklyn Mother's Stairwell DeathBut Sullivan and Schoettes said that previous administrations had allowed members to serve full terms before appointing replacements. "Like any administration, they want their own people there".
"I was co-chair of the disparities committee, so much of my advocacy and policy references surrounded vulnerable populations, addressing issuing of diverse communities, specifically looking at the impacts of the LGBT community, namely, the disproportionate impact of HIV and AIDS to people of color, gay men, transgender women", he said. It also mentioned the 1.1 million Americans now living with HIV. "Two, many of us, our terms were over earlier this year and we were sworn back in, and three were stayed on almost four months after an executive order was signed continuing the council".
Ben Plumley, Chief Executive Officer of Pangaea, an global HIV organization that works with funders and national governments to help at-risk populations, has said that if the US lets HIV go unchecked at home and overseas, it will destabilize each country's national security. "Every organization serving people living with HIV and fighting to end this epidemic must galvanize their networks of clients, staff, and volunteers to resist and fight back against these risky HIV policy decisions", he added.
Since the resignations in June, Trump has made public statements on HIV/AIDS consisting of proclamations on National HIV Testing Day and World AIDS Day.
The White House did not immediately respond for comment.
The firing of the remaining board members provides further evidence that the Trump administration isn't interested in the issue.
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