Obama initiates HIV policy

Obama initiates HIV policy
by Bob Roehr
Copyright by The Windy City Times
2009-04-15
http://www.windycitymediagroup.com/gay/lesbian/news/ARTICLE.php?AID=20909


The Obama administration held a high-profile unveiling of a new HIV/AIDS public awareness campaign in part of the White House compound of buildings, on April 7. AIDS advocates were grateful for the symbolism of the event, which far outweighed the content of the program.

The campaign is called Act Against AIDS and “seeks to put the HIV crisis back on the national radar screen,” said Melody Barnes, an assistant to the president and director of the White House Domestic Policy Council.

“Our goal is to remind Americans that HIV/AIDS continues to pose a serious health threat in the United States and encourage them to get the facts they need to take action for themselves and their communities.”

This first phase of the campaign, “9½ minutes,” it draws upon the fact that one American becomes newly infected with HIV every nine and a half minutes. The public awareness campaign uses a series of public service announcements and a Web site.

Kevin Fenton, director of the CDC's National Center for HIV/AIDS, Viral Hepatitis, STD and TB Prevention, focused on a “leadership initiative,” that partners with 14 African-American civic organizations to integrate HIV prevention into each organization's outreach programs.

Third is a partnership with the Kaiser Family Foundation to coordinate efforts within the communications and entertainment sectors.

These are five-year programs with annual budgets of $9 and $2 million a year for the first two, and a total of $1 million for the third. It does not represent “new money” but rather pulls from the pool of existing HIV prevention dollars, now some $800 annually. The programs have been in development for some time.