obama

On Tuesday of this week, the Obama administration began movement towards atonement for the mortal sins perpetrated to a lesser or greater degree by each and every administration since AIDS was first recognized.  

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(cross posted at RH Reality Check)

By Julie Davids and David Ernesto Munar

ATLANTA (Aug 23)-As members of the new Administration opentheir first federal scientific gathering on HIV/AIDS six-months into the Presidencyof Barack Obama, they face a mix of high expectations and serious challengesfacing HIV-fighting efforts in the U.S. AIDS advocates are poised to assess the course on HIV/AIDS charted by theAdministration and attempt to apply their influence.

More than 3,000 scientists, service providers, publicofficials and advocates have joined in downtown Atlanta for the NationalConference on HIV Prevention (NHPC)sponsored by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). Withthe newly appointed heads of the Department of Health and Human Services,Kathleen Sebelius, and CDC Director Tom Frieden welcoming delegates tomorrow,the conference opened tonight with a panel of speakers who are all living withHIV, including Magic Johnson and a member of this reporting team, David ErnestoMunar of the AIDS Foundation of Chicago (see his remarks here)

The conference marks just over a year since CDC officials,presented at the International Conference on AIDS in Mexico City,unveiled stark new data suggesting the annual number of HIV infections in theU.S. is 40 percent higher than previously estimated, with African Americansshouldering the greatest number of new cases and rates still on the rise amonggay and bisexual men of all races. Based on its new calculations, CDC says that an estimated 56,300 peoplebecome infected with HIV each year, far greater than the long-standing, priorestimate of 40,000 annual infections.  read more »

HIV prevention providers and advocates are prepared to usethe conference to highlight a range of economic and political issues hamperinganti-HIV efforts, calling for a greater focus on prevention work through effortsto strengthen the "pillars" of a comprehensive, combination approach groundedin healthcare access; integration and expansion of voluntary HIV testing,prevention and treatment; and long-overdue attention to social inequalitiesthat can further the spread of the epidemic. And they are seeking to determine, and influence, whatrelative priority HIV-fighting efforts will have for this Administration in themidst of many competing challenges.

Stunning, to travel to the city where I had lived and had protested the Bush/Cheney ascension to power -- but instead to witness the inauguration of President Barack Obama.

The 8-year depression seemed to lift from the people of DC.  Around Union station and up to the Mall, makeshift stalls clustered in clearings hawking Obama t-shirts, First Family bags, a huge painting of Obama and Michelle as divine Egyptian royalty.  Friends who live there were hosting giant slumber parties of out of town guests.  Troops of kids from DC schools held hands and took each other’s photos, their teachers gleeful.  Chatty Obama-enthusiast taxi drivers.

The city is finally eager to be home to our Nation’s elected leader and the entire community of appointees, staffers and supporters who transform the restaurants, the schools, the fashions, the streets, the fabric and rhythm of the city by their doings.  The people of our Nation’s capital also suffer one of the highest HIV rates in this country, on par with worst epidemics in Africa.

Two million people were on the Mall, according to official estimates.   We walked for two hours through a tunnel and past the Tidal basin.  Three young women walked together with elbows linked, Kenyon flags flapping off their coat shoulders like superhero capes.  AIDS is the leading cause of death for Black women in America in their age group.  In their home country of Kenya, HIV rates for young women ages 15 to 25 are 5 times those of their male counterparts. 
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By now most of you know that the Internet is buzzing with news that President-Elect Obama is considering neurosurgeon/media personality Dr. Sanjay Gupta for the Surgeon General post – arguably the most influential public health advocate in the U.S. Should we be wary of having such a publicity aficionado and “health care industry insider” – whose most memorable appearance was his disturbing spat with Michael Moore against universal health care in the U.S. - as our top HIV/AIDS prevention advocate? Or could his celebrity and interest in HIV/AIDS issues (see Dr. Gupta's segment with Phil Wilson discussing the HIV/AIDS crisis in Black America) -work to our advantage?

What does the Surgeon General Do anyway?  read more »

On November 20, over 1000 low-income people of color living with HIV came to the 100 Days to Fight AIDS rally to stand up for the ambitious HIV/AIDS platform under which Obama campaigned for president, including his pledge for a National AIDS Strategy.

For a change, we approached the nation’s capitol in the lead-up to World AIDS Day with a spirit of hope. In the coming months, we must continue to push forward with an expectation of more – not just more resources for existing HIV/AIDS efforts, but for a more strategic and more coordinated, comprehensive response that will actually bring down the rate of infection, tackle the epidemic in communities of color and in gay men, and bring dignity and medical care to the lives of all those who are infected.

And change is what we need. Since we last commemorated World AIDS Day, it’s been confirmed that HIV/AIDS is worse in the United States than we ever knew.
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