San Francisco, California - 6 February 2019

1.Exterior shot of San Francisco AIDS Foundation office

2. SOUNDBITE (English) Joe Hollendoner, CEO, San Francisco AIDS Foundation:

"While we fully support that goal and believe that it's completely achievable, I question whether or not this administration and particularly this president will be able to lead us to ending HIV transmission. Ultimately I think at every turn, he has gone against the people living with HIV or at risk for HIV with his policies and his budgets. So I have deep concerns whether or not he will actually be able to achieve that ambitious goal."

3. SF AIDS Foundation sign near security desk

4. Closer shot of SF AIDS Foundation sign

5. SOUNDBITE (English) Joe Hollendoner, CEO, San Francisco AIDS Foundation:

"The president has consistently attacked people living with HIV or who are at risk with HIV from trying to dismantle the Affordable Care Act, which has provided access to folks for HIV treatment, as well as prep services. His work around discharging people who are HIV positive from the military banning, transgender individuals from the military and then the violence that he's enacting through these ICE raids on people of color, it just continues to speak to the systemic racism that he is is known for."

6. SF AIDS Foundation reception desk

7. SOUNDBITE (English) Joe Hollendoner, CEO, San Francisco AIDS Foundation:

"It's great that he set out this bold goal but as we know the devil is in the details and you can pay lip service to ending the epidemic but unless your policies, your funding and your strategies that your administration are aligned with, it's not going to be achievable. So I'm very curious to see what the White House puts out next as to how they're actually going to achieve that goal and we will hold him accountable to that statement that he made."

8. Hollendoner looks at SF AIDS Foundation website

President Donald Trump is launching a campaign to end the HIV epidemic in the United States by 2030, targeting areas where new infections happen and getting highly effective drugs to people at risk.

His move is being greeted with a mix of skepticism and cautious optimism by anti-AIDS activists.

State and local health officials are warning the administration not to take money from other programs to finance the initiative, whose budget has not been revealed.

Senior public health officials said the campaign relies on fresh insights into where about half of new HIV cases occur — 48 out of some 3,000 U.S. counties, and Washington, D.C., Puerto Rico and seven states with at-risk rural residents.

The 48 counties health officials are focusing on are mainly metro areas. The states are Alabama, Arkansas, Kentucky, Mississippi, Missouri, Oklahoma and South Carolina.

Researchers noted that will require working with groups that often shun health services, including injectable drug users.

While he pledged funding in his upcoming budget, Trump did not say how much.

That raised a flag for some non-profits and government agencies working to fight HIV & AIDS.

Anti-AIDS activists said they're ready to work with the White House, but wary because of Trump's previous efforts to slash Medicaid health care for low-income people, and his administration's ongoing drive to roll back newly won acceptance for LGBTQ people.

In recent years a number of health organizations, including the United Nations, have called for coordinated steps to end the HIV epidemic by 2030.