COMMUNITY HIV/AIDS MOBILIZATION PROJECT (CHAMP)
For immediate release: May 9, 2007
Contact: Sean Barry, 212.937.7955, x 5
Overdue strategic plan slashes goal of halving 40,000 annual new infections, settling for a mere 10% reduction; activists call on administration to invest in evidence-based programs and a robust research agenda to restore hope of significant improvement
Addendum to CDC HIV Strategic Plan: http://www.champnetwork.org/media/chac.5.07.pdf
Atlanta, GA – A new Bush administration HIV/AIDS “strategic plan” distributed by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) is being criticized as a retreat from CDC’s previous goals. The scaled down plan comes only eight weeks after CDC launched its “heightened response” on the endemic epidemic in the African American community.
“The administration’s HIV prevention plan denies desperately needed resources to bring down the rate of new infections in our country. They’ve lost credibility and can no longer pretend we can tackle big problems with budget cuts,” said Ruth True, a prevention worker and CHAMP member in Austin, Texas.
“Instead of rising to the challenge and rectifying our nation’s shameful response to the epidemic, the administration is revising its goals to reflect its inadequate response. They’re trying to create the illusion that we’re making progress by moving the goal posts closer. How can you do this and honestly say you are ’heightening the response’ against HIV/AIDS in my community, where nearly one in two Black gay men are infected?” said Mark McLaurin, member of the Executive Committee of the National Black Gay Men’s Advocacy Coalition and CHAMP’s board of directors.
On March 8, CDC announced “A Heightened Response,” a new African American-specific HIV prevention strategy. The initiative was lauded by some for its vision and its recognition of the epidemic in Black gay men and other men who have sex with men. But advocates wary of new initiatives without significant funding to implement them met it with doubt.
The lack of a dedicated funding stream for comprehensive sex education and maintaining the ban on federal funding for syringe exchange programs are also cited as barriers to achieving national HIV prevention goals. “We can dramatically reduce the number of new HIV infections, but only if we apply what we know works based on over 25 years of prevention experience,” said Ruth True.
“It may be good to recognize that the previous plan was pie in sky since it included no realistic support or means to achieve its goals, but the newly proposed plan is even further from the vision of success. It does nothing to provide or push us along the real steps we need to take to end the AIDS epidemic,” said Dr. Walt Senterfitt, a former CDC staff person and chair of CHAMP’s board. “We need to take action on a new vision of really breaking the back of the epidemic in our country. That starts with funding programs that we know work – like syringe exchange and comprehensive sexuality education. It would also mean scaling-up research to fill our knowledge gaps, and truly committing to address core issues that increase HIV risk in hard-hit communities, like the overflowing prison system, anti-gay violence, and the lack of safe housing.”
CHAMP is a national HIV prevention activist and training organization with offices in New York City, Los Angeles, and Providence, RI.
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