Wednesday, May 21, 2008

It’s Time to End the Epidemic at Home: The Need for a National AIDS Strategy


National Leaders Convened Successful,
Historic Congressional Briefing
on Urgent Needs Regarding HIV/AIDS in the U.S.


WASHINGTON, May 21, 2008 -- National leaders on HIV/AIDS convened yesterday in the Rayburn Building to hold an historic Congressional Briefing on the need for a National AIDS Strategy, and Rep. Maxine Waters (D-CA), one of the briefing’s Honorary Congressional Co-sponsors, addressed the standing-room-only gathering along with the panel.

Pictured (L-R) are Panel Moderator
Rebecca Haag, Executive Director, AIDS Action; distinguished Panel members David Holtgrave, PhD, Johns Hopkins University; Mario Perez, Director, Office of AIDS Programs and Policy, LA County Department of Public Health; Phill Wilson, Executive Director, The Black AIDS Institute; Kathie Hiers, CEO, AIDS Alabama; Terrell Halaska, Partner at HCM Strategists, former Assistant Secretary for DOE, and Deputy Chief of Staff to Secretary Tommy Thompson; and Marjorie Hill, PhD, CEO, Gay Men’s Health Crisis.

The Call to Action: Establish and Support a


The United States, a leader in the international response to AIDS, is failing its own citizens in the response to the epidemic at home. More than 25 years since it was first identified, the HIV/AIDS epidemic in the U.S. is characterized by needless mortality, inadequate access to care, persistent levels of new infection and stark racial inequalities.

Half of the more than 1 million people in America living with HIV/AIDS are not in medical care. More than 250,000 people don’t know that they are infected. The percentage of new infections among women has tripled since 1985 to 27%, and AIDS is the leading cause of death among black women aged 25-34. Communities of color are hardest hit. African-Americans represent 13% of the population but nearly half of all new infections. Latinos, at 13% of the population, represent 20% of the new infections. HIV/AIDS remains the #1 health care risk for gay men. Infection rates are higher in some American communities than in Sub-Saharan Africa

The unsatisfactory outcomes from our country’s response have serious human and economic costs. A study published by panelist Dr. David Holtgrave in 2003 found that failure to meet the government’s goal of reducing HIV infections by half would lead to $18 billion in excess expenses through 2010.

It’s time to end the epidemic at home. The federal government must develop a National AIDS Strategy that is results-oriented with measurable outcomes, a timeline and adequate funding. The next President must provide the leadership to make it happen, and Congress must support the National AIDS Strategy and devote the resources necessary for its development and implementation. Individuals and organizations are urged to join the call for a National AIDS Strategy by signing on at www.NationalAIDSstrategy.org.


Honorary Congressional Cosponsors

Representative Tammy Baldwin (D-WI) - Representative Janice Schakowsky (D- IL)

Representative Donna Christensen (D-VI) - Representative Hilda Solis (D-CA)

Representative Eliot Engel (D-NY) - Representative Edolphus Towns (D-NY)

Representative Mike Honda (D-CA) - Representative Maxine Waters (D-CA)

Representative Barbara Lee (D-CA) - Representative Henry Waxman (D-CA)


Organizational Cosponsors:

African American Health Alliance

AIDS Action Committee of Massachusetts

AIDS Action Foundation

AIDS Alabama

AIDS Alliance for Children, Youth & Families

AIDS Foundation of Chicago

AIDS Project Los Angeles

AIDS Survival Project

American Bar Association AIDS Coordinating Committee

amFAR, The Foundation for AIDS Research

Asian & Pacific Islander American Health Forum

BIENESTAR

Balm in Gilead

The Black AIDS Institute

C2EA, Campaign to End AIDS

Cascade AIDS Project

CHAMP, Community HIV/AIDS Mobilization Project

Gay Men’s Health Crisis

Housing Works

Human Rights Campaign

L.A. Gay and Lesbian Center

Latino Commission on AIDS

Log Cabin Republicans

Nashville CARES

National Association of People with AIDS

National Black Leadership Commission on AIDS

NYCAHN, NYC AIDS Housing Network

Project Inform

San Francisco AIDS Foundation

Whitman-Walker Clinic

Treatment Action Group

The Women’s Collective

Us Helping Us

2 comments:

  1. And WHERE exactly are the Republican sponors???

    Oh yeah...they'd prefer we all curl up and dye.

    ReplyDelete
  2.           > info at nationalaidsstrategy.org

    Please fix this email... it didn't work!

    ReplyDelete

Related Posts Plugin for WordPress, Blogger...

select key words

2007 National HIV Prevention Conference 2009 National LGBTI Health Summit 2011 LGBTI Health Summit 2012 Gay Men's Health Summit 2012 International AIDS Conference ACT Up AIDS AIDS Foundation of Chicago Africa BUTT Bisexual Bisexual Health Summit Brian Mustanski Center on Halsted Charles Stephens Chicago Chicago Black Gay Men's Caucus Chicago Task Force on LGBT Substance Use and Abuse Chris Bartlett Coaching with Jake Congress David Halperin David Munar Dr. James Holsinger Dr. Jesus Ramirez-Valles Dr. Rafael Diaz Dr. Ron Stall ENDA Ed Negron Eric Rofes FTM Feast of Fun Feel the love... Friday is for Faeries Gay Men's Health Summit 2010 HCV HIV HIV care HIV drugs HIV negative HIV positive HIV prevention HIV stigma HIV strategic plan HIV testing HIV/AIDS HPV Howard Brown Health Center IML IRMA Illinois International AIDS Conference Jim Pickett LGBT LGBT adoption LGBT culture LGBT health LGBT rights LGBT seniors LGBT youth LGBTI community LGBTI culture LGBTI health LGBTI rights LGBTI spirituality LGV Leon Liberman LifeLube LifeLube forum LifeLube poll LifeLube subscription Lorenzo Herrera y Lozano Lymphogranuloma Venereum MRSA MSM Monday Morning Perk-Up National AIDS Strategy National Gay Men's Health Summit One Fey's Tale Peter Pointers Pistol Pete PnP PrEP President Barack Obama Presidential Campaign Project CRYSP Radical Faerie STD Senator Barack Obama Sister Glo Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence Susan Kingston Swiss declaration Ted Kerr Test Positive Aware Network The "Work-In" The 2009 Gay Men's Health Agenda Tony Valenzuela Trans Gynecology Access Program Trans and Intersex Association Trevor Hoppe Who's That Queer Woof Wednesday You Tube abstinence only activism advocacy african-american aging issues anal cancer anal carcinoma anal health anal sex andrew's anus athlete ball scene bareback porn barebacking bathhouses bears big bold and beautiful bisexuality black gay men black msm blood ban blood donor body image bottom chubby chaser circumcision civil rights civil union communication community organizing condoms crystal meth dating dating and mating with alan irgang depression disclosure discrimination domestic violence don't ask don't tell douche downlow drag queen emotional health exercise female condom fitness gay culture gay identity gay latino gay male sex gay marriage gay men gay men of color gay men's health gay pride gay rights gay rugby gay sex gay youth gender harm reduction hate crime health care health care reform health insurance hepatitis C hiv vaccine homophobia homosexuality hottie hotties how are you healthy? human rights humor hunk immigration international mr. leather internet intimacy leather community leathersex lifelube survey love lube lubricant masturbation mental health microbicides middle music negotiated safety nutrition oral sex physical health pleasure podcast policy politics poppers porn post-exposure prophylaxis prevention prostate prostate cancer public health public sex venues queer identity racism recovery rectal microbicides relationships religion research safe sex semen sero-adaptation sero-sorting seroguessing sex sexual abuse sexual addiction sexual health sexual orientation smoking social marketing spirituality stigma stonewall riots substance abuse treatment substance use suicide super-bug superinfection syphilis testicle self-examination testicular cancer testing top trans group blog transgender transgender day of remembrance transgendered transmen transphobia transsexual universal health care unsafe sex vaccines video violence viral load writers yoga youtube