​Former Miss USA: Renew Trump's goal to end HIV by 2030

My grandmother, Mama Lola, had a saying she repeated so often it became the architecture of my life: "No matter how little you have, there is always someone who has less. Find a way to help.”I was raised by her and my single mother, Carmen, two women who didn't have much but gave generously anyway. Community service wasn't a resume line in our house; it was simply what you did. That ethic is the thread connecting every chapter of my life, including one that, on its surface, might seem contradictory.Twenty-three years ago, I was Miss USA and an advocate for HIV prevention and education, among other causes. During my reign, the competition was owned by Donald Trump, which technically made him my boss. I know that for many readers of this publication, his name carries real pain. I don't ask anyone to set that aside. But those threads crossed in a way I never expected.In his 2019 State of the Union address, President Trump announced a national goal to end the HIV epidemic in the United States by 2030. Shortly after, I joined Healthvana, a technology company working to end HIV that has served nearly one million patients. It was a full-circle moment for me, and here is what I've come to believe: ending HIV is a goal that has been embraced across administrations, by people who agree on almost nothing else. On the data and moral urgency, our country can actually align.But the uncomfortable truth is that the goal is slipping out of reach for the people who need it most.PrEP, the medication that prevents HIV, reduces the risk of getting it from sex by about 99 percent when taken as prescribed. Testing is fast and routine. Prevention has never been more possible. Yet we still have approximately 750 new HIV diagnoses each week, and women account for nearly 20 percent of them. Black Americans account for the largest share while remaining dramatically underrepresented among those getting protection. The South carries roughly half the country's new infections.The virus isn't spr