CDC's "Heightened National Response" - Chaotic and Underfunded

Contact: Kenyon Farrow

A YEAR LATER, A RESPONSE DEFERRED:CDC’S “HEIGHTENED NATIONAL RESPONSE” TO HIV/AIDS IN AFRICAN AMERICAN COMMMUNITY IS CHAOTIC, UNDERFUNDED, AND FAR FROM ITS GOALS

As CDC quietly releases figures revealing 80% boost in HIV in Black gay youth, advocates call for national AIDS strategy, adequate funding, and political leadership

Launched with much fanfare in March 2007, the Centers for Disease Control & Prevention’s (CDC) A Heightened National Response to the HIV/AIDS Crisis Among African-Americans called for “expanding the reach of prevention services; increasing opportunities for diagnosing and treating HIV; developing new, effective prevention interventions, and; mobilizing broader community action.”

One year later, the Heightened National Response (HNR) effort has been marked by shifting leadership, lack of communication to local leaders and community organizations, and no new funding for any initiatives that are not restricted to HIV testing. It is now widely believed that Madeline Sutton, MD, MPH, CDC Acting Director of Partnerships in the Department of HIV/AIDS Prevention, the latest in a series of individuals responsible for HNR, will once again restructure the initiative in an attempt to address its significant shortfalls.

In response to the failure of the HNR, leaders of the 13,000-person CHAMP Network are calling for a comprehensive, results-oriented and measurable national AIDS strategy, rather than piecemeal, under-funded initiatives that have not resulted in concrete change.

“The CDC released this report last March, and the only change we’ve seen is more HIV for African Americans, not less,” says Kenyon Farrow, Director of Communication at Community HIV/AIDS Mobilization Project (CHAMP). “This seems like yet another grand vision outlined in a glossy document that is, in fact, ill-equipped to make any real dent in new infections. We need real leadership, real funding and a comprehensive strategy at the federal level if we’re going to do more than give lip service to HIV prevention in our country.”

Advocates note that the HNR anniversary has coincided with CDC’s quiet release of new data revealing that Black gay men and other men who have sex with men (MSM) ages 13-24 had a nearly 80% increase in new HIV infections from 2001-2005. Another new study documents that fully half of all African American girls have had a sexually-transmitted infection (STI), which has been shown to increase the likelihood of HIV infection. HIV/AIDS is the number one cause of death for African-American women ages 25-34.

One year ago, CDC gathered leaders from around the country to announce the HNR, asking them to make specific commitments on pledge cards to amplifying their efforts. Now, leaders from around the country – including those in cities where CDC promoted HIV testing as a part of HNR – say that their pledges were never organized into significant efforts. In fact, many of the existing HIV prevention programs serving Black Americans through federal funds are in danger of losing funding under the Bush Administration’s 2009 budget proposal.

“The US requires countries applying for our global AIDS funding to have a national AIDS strategy, yet we don’t even have one of our own. Instead, we’ve got a chaotic and under-funded CDC dog-and-pony show passing out pledge cards that then get tossed between transient program heads,” says Waheedah Shabazz-El of CHAMP. “Perhaps the CDC should be up front about its own challenges to help Congress and the President recognize the need for a comprehensive national AIDS strategy, rather than rallying hardworking Black community leaders around grandiose plans almost guaranteed to fall short due to lack of resources and coordination.”

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