SAN ANTONIO – It’s a matter of public health. Knowing your HIV status protects everyone.
However, since the beginning of June 2025, fewer people have been able to get tested for the virus at the San Antonio AIDS Foundation.
“The rates of exposure will go up...because people don’t know they have it,” said DeAngela Price.
Price’s concern is shared by many, including Dr. Cherise Rohr-Allegrini, Epidemiologist and CEO of the San Antonio AIDS Foundation.
“We were closed to in-house testing for four days. In a month, we do 355 HIV tests, so we probably turned away 60 to 70 people,” said Rohr-Allegrini.
Rohr-Allegrini stated that this is due to CDC funding cuts. They’ve trickled down to the local nonprofit, which was promised nearly $500,000 this year to cover the cost of HIV tests. To provide testing for those most at risk, Dr. Rohr-Allegrini said she has had to make tough decisions and ration tests.
“We are using our general funds, which are already pretty limited, to pay for testing,” said Rohr-Allegrini.
Now, not everyone who visits the nonprofit and asks for an HIV test is able to get one.
“Straight men...men who have sex with women only aren’t tested here now. We don’t have that means. There’s no funding stream that they fall under.”
However, Dr. Rohr-Allegrini is optimistic that things will turn around and that the non-profit will find alternative means of funding to expand HIV testing, which she argues benefits the entire community.
“[If] people are not being diagnosed with these infections, they’re not being treated for the infection. And it not only affects that person’s own health, but when you get treated, it prevents the spread,” said Rohr-Allegrini.
According to AIDSVu, 7,127 Bexar County residents were living with HIV in 2022.
For HIV and sexually transmitted infection (STI) testing at a mobile health clinic, click here.
People in San Antonio and Bexar County who have no other way to obtain STI services or tests can visit a walk-in clinic. You can find more information here.
