HIV & Aging Issues Brief: January 2026
Welcome to the first HIV & Aging Issues Brief for January of 2026. Below is compiled a series of key public health policy issues and research items pertinent to the ongoing work of HealthHIV and the Coalition—happening both nationally and internationally:
Aging with HIV Issues Ongoing Nationally/Internationally:
5 Challenges of Aging with HIV
11/10/2025
This article, from Healthline, provides an effective (for a general medical provider audience) primer on some of the major challenges of aging with HIV—“The development of highly active antiretroviral therapy (ART) has greatly improved survival and quality of life for people with HIV while also reducing transmission of the virus. Now, more than half of people in the United States who have an HIV diagnosis are 50 years old or older. Aging with HIV can come with challenges. Older adults with HIV can face delayed diagnosis and an increased risk of certain health conditions, as well as the potential for social isolation. Many also experience economic difficulties.”
New medical school center set to investigate healthy aging with HIV
10/21/2025
This article, from the Yale Daily News, provides an overview of an emerging research center specifically focused on aging and HIV—“A new center at Yale’s medical school dedicated to discovering strategies for healthy aging for patients with HIV is set to launch with the support of a five-year grant from the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism. The Aging Well with HIV Through Alcohol Research and Risk Reduction and Education — or AWAR3E — Center is led by Amy Justice MED ’88, a professor of internal medicine and public health at the School of Medicine; Julie Womack NUR ’94 GRD ’08, an associate professor of nursing at the School of Nursing; and Vincent Lo Re, a professor of medicine and epidemiology at Rutgers University’s Robert Wood Johnson Medical School.”
HIV and aging: Addressing new challenges and questions
10/7/2025
This article, from IDSA (the Infectious Diseases Society of America), provides an effective (for a general medical provider audience) primer on some of the major challenges of aging with HIV—“Age is the great equalizer and one of the greatest gifts modern biomedical innovations have provided to people with HIV. Originally a diagnosis that came with great fear and the tragic reality that life would now be counted in months, weeks or even days, HIV swept through communities taking the young and vibrant far too early in their life stories. But with the advent of AZT and later antiretroviral therapy, a diagnosis of HIV infection has become — for those with adequate access to care, treatment and support — a conversation about chronic illness and management more than mortality.”
HIV and Aging – New York State AIDS Institute
9/19/2025
This website, from the New York State AIDS Institute, provides an overview of HIV and aging related programs and resources particular to New York—“Nearly 60 percent of those living with diagnosed HIV in New York State are over 50 years old and that percentage is expected to increase in the years to come. Effective antiretroviral therapy has enabled individuals living with HIV to live long and full lives. Yet a host of medical and social issues often impact both long-term survivors of any age and those who are diagnosed with HIV later in life. HIV and aging-related medical comorbidities, early onset of aging-related issues, isolation and loneliness, historical and intersectional trauma, as well as a host of other problems can impact people aging with HIV (PAWH), their medical outcomes and their well-being.”
New Aging with HIV Research
Introducing the WHO ICOPE approach into HIV care: A perspective on healthy ageing in people living with HIV
12/31/2025
“HIV medicine may serve as a model for expanding the integration of the ICOPE approach across chronic diseases, especially in low-resource settings where primary care structures must address age-related vulnerability.”
Facilitators and barriers to enhancing cognitive reserve in adults aged ≥ 50 years with HIV-associated mild neurocognitive disorder: a qualitative study
12/30/2025
“This study highlights key factors influencing cognitive reserve enhancement in PLWH aged ≥ 50 years, emphasizing the need for tailored interventions to address barriers and leverage facilitators.”
Resilience, and Personality Traits as Independent Correlates of Perceived Treatment Management Abilities in Middle-Aged and Older People Living with HIV
12/25/2025
“Resilience, openness, depression, and health literacy are important psychosocial factors related to treatment management ability. Interventions targeting resilience, openness to new information, depression, and health literacy may improve HIV treatment management abilities and ultimately health outcomes among older PLWH.”
Driving the Month: Looking Back on 2025
2025 was, to say the least, a whirlwind year—marked by major breaks from scientific and medical best practices, numerous firings and resignations, major legislative and regulatory changes on the federal level, and major breaks from longstanding economic and public health programs, bi- and multi-lateral relations, and international institutions. To recap:
Domestic Developments:
The One Big Beautiful Bill Act (OBBA) was signed into law on July 4th, 2025, altering the tax code, introducing work reporting requirements and funding restrictions for Medicaid, as well as, notably, not extending premium ACA (Affordable Care Act) premium tax credits (which expired later on in the year).
Numerous firings (totalling over 300,000, notably including one CDC Director Monarez) and resignations (including one Chair of the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices, ACIP, among them) were initiated.
ACIP was transformed into a wholly different institution, prominently rolling back established public health best practices (such as the universal Hepatitis B vaccine birth dose), with complete membership turnover after associated firings.
Regulatory changes resulted in major regressions in federal LGBTQ policy, particularly for transgender individuals.
The International Context:
As of February 2025, PEPFAR (the President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief) has been substantially reduced in both scale and scope, resulting in substantial care interruptions for the millions previously served; UN AIDS has also estimated that there may be 4.2 million additional deaths between 2025 and 2029 as a result of these program and funding cuts, should they continue.
As of July 2025, the US has also withdrawn financial support from Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance (GAVI), an international institution which provides vaccines to children in lower-income countries, resulting in additional financial strain for the organization, where analyses have indicated that 1.2 million additional children may die should these funding withdrawals be enduring.
Finally, since January of 2025, anti-LGBTQ rhetoric (and actions) in general, and anti-trans rhetoric (and actions) in particular, have become an integral part of how the US conducts itself and advocates within international bodies, building on a substantial body of domestic anti-LGBTQ work.
Positive Developments:
Internationally, per the WHO (World Health Organization), there have been some notable international advancements in global public health, including the adoption of a global Pandemic Agreement as of May last year (which the US is notably not party to), substantial progress in driving down the transmission rates of a variety of contagious diseases (including malaria, tuberculosis, and sleeping sickness), and the continuation of successful vaccination campaigns (such as those for measles and HPV).
Finally, domestically, clinical trials on potential HIV treatment and prevention medications advanced, including ARTISTRY-2 and PILLAR, and the rollout of lenacapavir continued.
Innovation and Access Issues Ongoing Nationally/Internationally:
Gilead’s single-tablet HIV combo of bictegravir, lenacapavir passes another late-stage test on way to filings
12/16/2025
The Artistry-2 trial has continued to advance, with additional findings being published recently—“With a second late-stage trial win for its investigational HIV combo in the books, Gilead Sciences is moving full steam ahead toward regulatory filings for the novel HIV regimen. In top-line results shared Monday, Gilead said the bictegravir 75-mg/lenacapavir 50-mg regimen was noninferior to Biktarvy, meeting the trial’s primary endpoint. The primary endpoint looked at the percentage of participants with HIV-1 RNA levels ≥50 copies/mL at Week 48. The investigational combo was generally well tolerated, Gilead added.”
A Study Evaluating Implementation Strategies for the Delivery of Cabotegravir in Low and High-Volume PrEP Site in the United States (PILLAR)
12/15/2025
The PILLAR trial has also continued to advance, with additional findings being published recently—“This is a two-arm study evaluating the impact of two implementation strategy conditions, dynamic implementation and routine implementation on the feasibility of delivering of Cabotegravir PrEP in low and high-volume PrEP sites in the United States for men who have sex with men (MSM) and Transgender men ≥ 18 years of age.”
Tracking Key HHS Public Health Policy Actions Under the Trump Administration
12/5/2025
This article, from KFF (the Kaiser Family Foundation), lists changes to the structure and activities of HHS (the Department of Health and Human Services), including the Department’s HIV work—“Since assuming office for a second term, President Trump and officials in his administration have instituted numerous policy actions through the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) affecting public health in the U.S.”
Should the U.S. model its vaccine policy on Denmark’s? Experts say we’re nothing alike
12/26/2025
As fallout from ongoing federal retrenchment on public health best practices continues, this article outlines expert responses to ongoing attempts by Secretary Kennedy to circumscribe the US childhood vaccine scheudle—“Denmark recommends routinely vaccinating all children against just 10 diseases. In the U.S., the immunization schedule calls for routine universal vaccination against 16 diseases. It was 17 diseases until last week, when the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention officially dropped the recommendation to vaccinate all newborns against hepatitis B. But Denmark has created its immunization schedule in a very different context than that of the U.S., notes Dr. Sean O’Leary, chair of the Committee on Infectious Diseases for the American Academy of Pediatrics. ‘It’s like comparing a cruise ship to a kayak,’ says O’Leary, a professor of pediatrics and infectious diseases at the University of Colorado School of Medicine.”
