Winning the Battle Against HIV/AIDS

via Champions of Change, by David Ernesto Munar

Ed. Note: Champions of Change is a weekly initiative to highlight Americans who are making an impact in their communities and helping our country rise to meet the many challenges of the 21st century.

I am honored that the White House chose to commemorate the 30th Anniversary of the HIV/AIDS pandemic with me and other openly HIV-positive organizers from across the country. We gathered recently with federal officials to reflect on the salient lessons learned and milestones marked in the fight against HIV/AIDS over the past three decades.

Reflecting on this solemn occasion stirs a mix of emotions.

In 30 years, HIV has caused tremendous loss and human suffering in every corner of the inhabited world. But it has also inspired heroic acts of kindness, generosity, and leadership. Looking back, we must laud the significant medical, political, and scientific advances achieved but also sustain a firm understanding of the unfinished work that lies ahead. With record numbers of people living with HIV and increasing numbers of new infections, we must reinvigorate efforts to provide people with and at risk for HIV/AIDS with the health and social services, housing, prevention, and human-rights protections they so desperately need and deserve. HIV knows no borders and neither should our compassion and actions.

Recognizing the rapid maturity of HIV medical, behavioral and social sciences, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention now considers HIV a winnable battle. To truly win the future, the U.S. must not relent until we’ve won the fight against HIV/AIDS.

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Thirty Years of HIV/AIDS: A New Challenge Is on the Horizon

via The White House Blog by Ron Simmons, Ph.D.

Dr. Ron Simmons has made such a tremendous impact on the work I do for Black men who have sex with men (MSM).His service over the years stands as a framework for what it really means to work for the  betterment of  your community. Read his words...

When I reflect on the 30th anniversary of the HIV epidemic, I am simply amazed. Amazed that I am still alive after living with AIDS for over 20 years and that there is an effective treatment for HIV that is one pill a day. I remember the early days of AIDS, there was no name for it—only fear.

Doctors were afraid to touch you. Nurses were afraid to feed you. And your friends that tried to give you encouragement to not feel hopeless, died themselves from the disease. Today HIV/AIDS is a preventable and treatable disease. There is a lot least stigma and fear. The President of the United States speaks openly and affirmatively about ending the HIV/AIDS epidemic. In many jurisdictions, government funded programs provide a safety net of health care and support for people with the disease. So much has changed in 30 years, yet new challenges appear on the horizon.

One of the most serious challenges is the “paradigm shift” in HIV infection among Black men who have sex with men (MSM). Studies have found that the traditional paradigm, the theoretical model of a positive correlation between high HIV risk behavior and high HIV infection, may not be true for Black MSM. Such a paradigm shift would have a profound impact on the effectiveness of prevention efforts targeting Black MSM in the United States.

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We will not Forget: 30 Years of AIDS

Were you around during the early era of GRID (Gay-Related Infectious Disease) and ACT UP? Have you lost family and friends to the HIV/AIDS crisis or are currently affected? Were you part of the response to HIV during any part of the past 30 years, including organized efforts, agencies, and actions that only exist in the collective memories of those involved?

Then the AIDS Foundation of Chicago (AFC) and the Windy City Times want to hear your account of these poignant moments and milestones in the fight against HIV/AIDS. As the global HIV/AIDS crisis turns 30 this year, AFC is teaming up with the Windy City Times to support its nine-month commemorative series called AIDS@30.

On June 5, 1981, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) first reported on the mysterious occurrence of five previously healthy gay men with rare cases of Pneumocystis Pneumonia. For historians, the obscure reference in a federal public health journal marks the beginning of the modern-day struggle against what we now recognize as HIV/AIDS.

In collaboration with AFC, the Windy City Times will weekly revisit the past and ask critical questions about future directions in the fight against the epidemic. Mining its extensive historical records and original reporting, the Windy City Times will recount milestones in the city's and nation's 30-year struggle to combat this highly stigmatizing disease that has ravaged communities throughout the world.

Your ideas are needed

The Windy City Times and AFC invite your ideas and memories to tell the story of AIDS@30. Submissions of pivotal events, groups, individuals, and unsung heroes are especially welcome. Submit your suggested story ideas now.