Dr. Robert Redfield was recently picked to head the CDC after the position was left vacant for far too long. Unfortunately, he’s already making predictions he can’t possibly cash in on. I think it’s because he doesn’t actually know the data… which wouldn’t be so scary if we didn’t consider that he’s an HIV/AIDS researcher.

Oh, I’m sorry, disgraced HIV/AIDS researcher.

That’s right, y’all! A man in charge of the CDC who has been heralded as a highly regarded researcher… is actually a disgraced researcher. According to Vox, Redfield was cleared of any official misconduct but misrepresented data to the point that the data from his study on an HIV vaccine in the mid-90’s had to be republished.

For more detail, he was the head researcher (AKA Principal Investigator or PI) over this vaccine trial being tested at Walter Reed. Now, there was a lot of pressure to come up with something – anything – that actually helped with the epidemic. It seems to me that Redfield caved to that pressure and published something to get attention and alleviate fears.

I’m also concerned that it might have been rooted in wanting to get queer people in to administer something they knew wouldn’t help so that we’d all die off quicker. This isn’t usually where my mind goes, but Redfield wanted to enstate very segregational laws in the past with regard to HIV/AIDS patients. The man supports abstinence-only sex ed, promotes religious ideals, and scares the shit out of me.

That said, he treats around 6,000 patients at the University of Maryland School of Medicine and apparently gets high marks for his patient care. I still don’t feel like I can trust him, especially when he thinks the HIV/AIDS epidemic will end soon.

Redfield made a remark on his second day in a staff meeting that he believes we can ‘end‘ the epidemic within the next three to seven years. He thinks we have the tools right now to stop it… while promoting abstinence-only sex ed. I mean, he also said that the opioid issue was the major issue of our time and not HIV/AIDS. This wouldn’t be so concerning if the infection rates actually showed some promise. You’d think Redfield would be more familiar with these rates than I am, but I get the feeling that’s not true.

The rate of new HIV infections declined by 10% from 2010-2014 according to the CDC. In 2014, they said we had 37,000 new infections. As of 2016, that number was higher at 39,782. Rates remain higher in people of color. According to HIV.gov,

• Black/African American gay and bisexual men accounted for the largest number of HIV diagnoses (10,223), followed by Hispanic/Latino (7,425) and white (7,390) gay and bisexual men.

HIV rates are highest in the South from a combination of poor sex ed, a lack of conversation about HIV/AIDS, and religious/moralistic bullshit. On top of that, testing doesn’t happen as much as it should due to stigma, lack of access, and many more factors.

Part of the issue is that trans people aren’t tested. Their providers don’t think about it honestly. And a lot of younger people aren’t tested either. I think many people are young enough that they don’t remember the giant epidemic and AIDS quilt squares. Likewise, they’ve faced terrible sex ed and virtually no awareness campaigns around HIV/AIDS.

So how in the fuck does this guy think we’ll end the epidemic in as little as three years? I have no goddamn clue.

The trepidation I feel about Redfield’s appointment is high enough that I can’t even find the words. This entire administration has reduced a wordsmith to speechlessness. I really hope Redfield can prove me wrong and that he sets aside his bigoted religious beliefs to actually get things done. I’m not sure how with funding BS, but I hope.

Until he shows me different, though, I’m not holding my breath.