What We’re Reading: Global AIDS Program Renewed; Fetal Tissue Research Importance; Health Care Hacking Defenses Still Fail

Global AIDS Program Gets Funding in New Spending Deal

A global AIDS program that was in limbo for months got temporary relief this week after congressional negotiators agreed to a 1-year renewal in the next government funding package, according to Axios. The program, the President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR), is credited with saving 25 million lives since its inception in 2003 but was dragged into political battles over abortion when conservative groups accused the Biden administration last summer of using PEPFAR to promote abortion overseas. Key program functions expired after the 2023 fiscal year ended in September, although money used to fight AIDS kept flowing through the annual appropriations process. This latest agreement calls for PEPFAR to be reauthorized through March 2025, which will help to get the program out of election-year politics.

Fetal Tissue Research Gains Importance Due to Multiplying Roadblocks

Much is riding on the outcome of the November presidential election to determine the state of fetal tissue research in the US, according to Stat. Fetal tissue is used for a variety of studies, including stem cell research; studies of cancer, brain development, immunology, and HIV also depend on fetal tissue. The Trump administration created significant barriers to fetal tissue research, and federal funding of related studies has still not fully rebounded despite the Biden administration lifting them. Consequently, several scientists are worried about what will be done to fetal tissue research if Trump returns to office, warning that the country could be behind in some areas of cutting-edge biology if barriers are put back in place. As a result, some researchers may move abroad where these barriers do not exist. Barriers to fetal tissue research may also discourage young researchers from pursuing careers in the field, potentially diminishing the US' leading position in biomedical research globally.

Despite Prior Attacks, Health Care Ransomware Defenses Still Fail

Although federal officials and industry executives have known for years that the US health care system was one of the industry’s most vulnerable to hacking, they failed to make improvements, according to The Washington Post. Critics say the recent Change Healthcare attack, which has hurt patient care at almost three-fourths of US hospitals, shows that defensive efforts are inadequate. According to Deputy National Security Advisor Anne Neuberger, the White House is examining what laws it can use to impose strict cybersecurity standards on the health care industry while telling executives that they are expected to comply with voluntary guidelines immediately; some requirements will soon come for providers that accept Medicare and Medicaid. Also, HHS said it was working with Congress to develop support and incentives for domestic hospitals to improve cybersecurity, and the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency named health care as one of its top priorities last year for tech security. Conversely, the American Hospital Association supports voluntary cybersecurity goals against the most common attacks, but it criticized mandatory measures proposed by the Biden administration.