May 2, 2008
Vol. VII, Number 15
This
Week in Washington
1. Congressional Briefing: Elevating STIs as a Public Health
Priority
2. AIDSWatch
Comes to Washington DC
3. Beinestar
Holds “Latinos and HIV/AIDS” Briefing
4. Congresswoman
Maxine Waters Calls for National AIDS Strategy
Announcements
1. AIDS Foundation of Chicago Launches online HIV/AIDS
Education Program
This Week in Washington
1. Congressional
Briefing: Elevating STIs as a Public Health Priority
On Thursday April 24th The National Partnership
for Women and Families and the American Social Health Association held a
Congressional Briefing entitled, “Elevating Sexually Transmitted Infections as
a Public Health Priority.” Congresswoman Stephanie Tubbs Jones (D-OH) sponsored
the briefing.
On March
11, 2008 the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC)
released data from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey of 2004
which found that one in four young women age 14-19 is infected with at least
one of the most common sexually transmitted infections (STIs). Several STI
experts presented on this finding and the high prevalence of STIs among America’s
youth. Presenters included Dr. John Douglas, Director of the Division of STD
prevention at CDC; Dr. Peter Leone, Associate Professor at the University of
North Carolina School of Medicine and Public Health, Dr. Virginia Caine,
Director of the Marion County Health Department in Indiana and Professor at the
Indiana University School of Medicine; and Dr. Karen Ashby, Professor at University
Hospitals Case Medical
Center in Cleveland,
Ohio.
Representative Tubb-Jones began the briefing with opening
remarks. In her opening comments she stated that the United
States has the highest rate of sexually
transmitted infections in the industrialized world, with half of all new
infections occurring in young people ages 15-24. She said, “The issue of
sexually transmitted infections has grown to epic proportions in this country.
We can no longer be silent about this issue. The abstinence only education
touted by the Bush Administration is simply not enough.”
On Thursday, April 24th Representative Tubb-Jones
introduced H.R. 1131, a Resolution recognizing April as National STD
Awareness month, with over 60 bi-partisan co-sponsors. The resolution
encourages the federal government, states, and localities to provide additional
funding for STI screening and treatment
services and requests increased programming and activities to educate Americans
of all ages on the risks and prevention of STD’s.
Click here
to view the resolution.
Next, Dr. John Douglas, Director of the Division of STD
Prevention at the CDC, gave an overview of sexually transmitted infections in
the United States.
He explained that there are over 18.9 million annual cases of a sexually
transmitted infection, costing the United States
approximately $15.3 billion in direct medical costs per year. When compared to other common sexually
transmitted diseases, HIV had the lowest estimated incidence, but the highest
estimated annual direct cost, $8.1 billion. Dr. Douglas then gave an overview
of the first ever U.S.
population-based study of the overall STI
burden among female adolescents. The CDC study, “Prevalence of Sexually
Transmitted Infections among Female Adolescents in the United
States: Data from the National Health and
Nutrition Examination Survey” found that one in four young women ages 14-19 had
an STI. The study only looked at the four
most common STIs: Chlamydia, Human Papillomavirus (HPV), Genital Herpes
(HSV-2), and Trichomonas. This study did not take into account gonorrhea,
syphilis, or HIV which are often co-morbid with other sexually transmitted
infections. The study also found substantial racial disparity in STI
prevalence. Nearly 47% of African-American females ages 14-19 is infected with
one of the four common STIs.
The remaining speakers shared epidemiological data and
clinical accounts of sexually transmitted diseases in teenagers from their
local regions. All panelists agreed that high prevalence of STI
among adolescents has reached epidemic proportions in their communities and
must become an important federal public health priority, in need of increased
attention and funding. The speakers emphasized the need for scaled up
comprehensive sexual education and screening efforts.
AIDS Action advocates for increased funding for the CDC’s STD
prevention program as part of the HIV/AIDS appropriations portfolio. AIDS
Action is requesting that Congress fund the STD
prevention program (part of the CDC’s HIV, Hepatitis, STD,
and TB Prevention Department) at $167.3 million in Fiscal Year 2009. This would
be an increase of $15 million from Fiscal Year 2008.
2. AIDSWatch Comes to
Washington DC
The National Association of People With AIDS (NAPWA) held AIDSWatch 2008
from April 28 - 30, 2007. AIDSWatch is the nation’s
largest annual constituent based Federal HIV/AIDS advocacy event. During
AIDSWatch people living with HIV/AIDS from across the country come to Washington, D.C. to participate in advocacy training sessions and then have meetings on
Capitol Hill to share their stories and educate legislators on the most
pertinent HIV/AIDS issues. While on the Hill, participants meet with Members of Congress and/or their staff to urge them
to strengthen essential HIV-related health care programs—such as the Ryan White
CARE Act, Housing Opportunities for Persons with
AIDS, and Medicaid/Medicare—through increases in funding and improvements in
policy. The Treatment Access Expansion
Project (TAEP) was a producing partner for this year’s event.
At the opening training session on Monday, April 28th, Frank
Oldham, Jr., the Executive Director of NAPWA, welcomed participants. He
explained that the key theme of this year’s AIDSWatch is “AIDS at Home”, a time
to refocus on the domestic HIV/AIDS agenda.
Following Mr. Oldham’s remarks, Robert Greenwald, Director, Treatment
Access Expansion Project echoed Mr. Oldham’s welcome and voiced the continuous
need for grass roots and constituency advocacy work for HIV/AIDS.
Next, Rebecca Haag, Executive Director of AIDS Action and David Munar,
Vice President of Policy AIDS Foundation Chicago, began the advocacy training
with an overview of the need for a National AIDS Strategy. They encouraged
AIDSWatch participants to urge their legislators to support the development of
a National AIDS Strategy to end the HIV/AIDS epidemic in the United States and to sign the petition for a national AIDS
strategy at www.nationalaidsstrategy.org.
This year, AIDS Action worked with AIDSWatch planners to establish the
priorities for AIDSWatch 2008, separated into legislative and appropriations
asks. Both Ronald Johnson, Deputy Executive Director of AIDS Action, and Bill
McColl, Political Director of AIDS Action joined the training panel to educate
participants of AIDSWatch’s legislative priorities. The legislative priorities
of AIDSWatch 2008 are:
1.
Pass the
Early Treatment for HIV Act (ETHA)
2.
Allowing
ADAP expenditures to count towards true-out-of-pocket
costs for Medicare recipients
3.
Impose
moratoria to prevent the implementation of harmful Medicaid rule changes
4.
Pass the
Microbicide Development Act
5.
Lift the
federal ban on funding for syringe exchange programs
6.
Repeal
the entry and immigration ban against HIV-positive foreign nationals
During the afternoon training Donna Crews, Director of Government
Affairs, AIDS Action, joined the training panel to educate AIDSWatch
participants on key Appropriations Requests. They appropriations priorities of
AIDSWatch 2008 are:
1.
Increase
funding for Ryan White Programs by $614.5 million
2.
Increase
funding for domestic HIV prevention programs at the CDC by $608 million
3.
Increase
funding for the Housing Opportunities for People with AIDS (HOPWA) program by
$169.9 million
4.
Increase
funding for the Minority AIDS Initiative by $223 million
5.
Increase
funding for the Office of AIDS Research at the National Institutes of Health by
$450 million
6.
Increase
funding for the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Agency by $337 million
7.
Eliminate
funding for abstinence-only education programs.
In addition to the
advocacy overview participants were given the opportunity to learn how to
articulate these requests and priorities during their meetings through hill
visit demonstrations and “mock meetings.”
On Tuesday and Wednesday participants spent their days attending several
meetings with Congressional offices that represent their respective districts
and states. There was also an “AIDS at Home” rally on Tuesday April 29th
attended by AIDSWatch participants, prominent HIV/AIDS activists, and several
Members of Congress.
AIDSWatch 2008 sponsors included POZ, Harlem United, San Francisco AIDS
Foundation, The Foundation for AIDS Research: amFAR, AIDS Action, AIDS
Foundation of Chicago, American Psychological Association, Broadway Cares,
Equity Fights AIDS, CAEAR Coalition, Gay Men’s Health Crisis, National Alliance
of State and Territorial AIDS Directors (NASTAD), and the National Minority
AIDS Council (NMAC).
3. Beinestar Holds
“Latinos and HIV/AIDS” Briefing
On Tuesday, April 24, 2007,
Bienestar hosted their third annual briefing on, “Latinos and HIV/AIDS.”
The speakers included Congresswoman Lucille Roybal-Allard (D-CA); staff from
the office of Congresswoman Hilda Solis (D-CA); Congresswoman Barbara Lee
(D-CA); Congresswoman Maxine Waters (D-CA); Oscar De La O, CEO and President of
Bienestar; Evelyn Ullah, Steering Committee Member, of the
National Latino/Hispanic AIDS Agenda; Dr. Kenneth Domiguez, Clinical
Epidemiology Team, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention; and Dr. Timothy
Harrison, Program Staff Specialist Office of HIV/AIDS Policy, Department of
Health and Human Services.
Opening the briefing, Oscar De La O explained this history
of Bienestar. Originally Bienestar was founded as an organization to serve
Spanish speaking Latinos in Los Angeles
with HIV/AIDS. Now, 19 years after being founded, there are locations in
LA County, San Bernardino County,
and San Diego County. .
Congresswoman Lucille Roybal Allard (D-CA) discussed her
longstanding partnership with Bienestar and the HIV/AIDS work being done by the
Congressional Hispanic Caucus’ Task Force on Health and the Environment.
She noted that President Bush’s proposed $1 million increase for Fiscal Year
2009 for the Ryan White CARE Act is dismal
and the treatment of HIV positive immigration detainees, many of which are
Latinos, by the Administration is not acceptable.
Rep. Maxine Waters (D-CA) expressed her gratitude for the
service Bienestar has provided her constituents in the Latino community and
also her concern that after a quarter of a century battling the HIV/AIDS
epidemic, the United States has not made sufficient progress. She conveyed her
disappointment in Pres. Bush’s FY 09 budget request which would decrease the
Minority AIDS Initiative by $15.6 million. Representative Waters sent a letter
to Chairman Obey (D-WI) and Ranking Member Lewis (D-CA) with over 80 of her
colleagues requesting $610 million to fully fund the MAI. Rep. Waters concluded her remarks by telling
all gathered that she supports a National AIDS Strategy (NAS) because it is
time we involve all sectors of our society in the commitment to end this
epidemic.
Dr. Kenneth Dominguez gave an epidemiological overview of Latinos
and HIV/AIDS in the United States.
According to the CDC, Hispanics represent 22% of newly diagnosed HIV
infections. The CDC funds 59 community based organizations that serve Hispanics
and Latinos and 33 community based organizations that target Hispanic and
Latinos. He referred the audience to the
resources the CDC has on HIV in the Latino community which can be found at: http://www.cdc.gov/hiv/hispanics/index.htm
Then, Dr. Timothy Harrison gave a brief overview of the Minority
AIDS Initiative (MAI). He explained
that the MAI was created in 1998 as a
response to the growing concern about the impact of HIV/AIDS on racial
minorities in the U.S.
In his overview he discussed the goals of the MAI
along with the initial structure of the initiative. He then explained
that OHAP is working to gather data to show the true impact of the Initiative.
The remainder of the program included two panel discussions:
HIV/AIDS Travel and Immigration Policy
and U.S. Immigration Detention Centers and HIV/AIDS. The panelists included Miguelina Leon,
HIV advocate and independent consultant; Rep. Barbara Lee, (D-CA); Alexandra
Nunez from Sen. John Kerry’s (D-MA) office; J. Stephen Morrison, CSIS Task
Force on HIV/AIDS; Cesar Portillo, Bienestar; Laura Esquivel, Gay and Lesbian
Victory Fund and Leadership Institute; Carol Chodroff, Human Rights Watch; and
Tom Jawetz, Immigration Detention Staff Attorney.
Rep. Lee opened the session by stating that the United
States’ travel and immigration ban is
unconscionable. She explained that the United
States is only one of 13 countries that have
a formal ban on HIV positive individuals entering the country. Representative
Lee introduced H.R. 3337, the HIV Nondiscrimination in Travel and Immigration
Act of 2007, to overturn the ban. Sen. Kerry introduced the bill’s companion
legislation in the Senate, S 2486. The
Senate version of PEPFAR reauthorization legislation would overturn the ban.
The full Senate has not yet voted on this bill. Ms. Nunez stressed the
importance of people contacting their Senators and Representatives to educate
them on this issue and to urge them to support language to overturn the ban in
the final PEPFAR reauthorization bill.
In closing, the remaining panelists shared stories about the
realities of detention at the Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) for
people living with HIV/ AIDS. The Center
for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) shared their publication, Moving Beyond the U.S. Government Policy of
Inadmissibility of HIV-Infected Noncitizens, which can be found at: http://www.csis.org/component/option,com_csis_pubs/task,view/id,3759/type,1/
.
4. Congresswoman Maxine Waters Calls for
National AIDS Strategy
During
AIDS Watch, Congresswoman Maxine Waters (D-CA), spoke at two HIV/AIDS events,
and publicly expressed her support for the development of a national strategy
to combat the HIV/AIDS epidemic.
During
the AIDSWatch rally on Tuesday April 29th, Representative Waters
said, “America
can - and must - do more to fight this disease and to help those who are living
with HIV/AIDS. I agree with those gathered here that we need a comprehensive
national strategy to end this epidemic and to address the needs of everyone in America
who is affected." Also on April 29th, she spoke at Bienestar’s
Congressional Briefing on Latino’s and HIV/AIDS echoing her support of a
national strategy and her commitment to make sure that the needs of minority
communities are taken into consideration.
Click here to
read Representative Water's Press Release.
To
learn more about the need for a national AIDS strategy, please visit. www.nationalaidsstrategy.org.
Announcements
1. AIDS Foundation of
Chicago Launches online HIV/AIDS Education Program
On April
15, 2008 the AIDS Foundation of Chicago (AFC)
and the Test Positive Aware Network (TPAN) jointly launched an interactive only
program specifically designed to educate people living with HIV/AIDS. The
program, PEERSpeak offers effective HIV/AIDS education through the voices of
people living with HIV. The National Library of Medicine funded the multimedia
educational program which is especially geared to people newly diagnosed with
HIV.
Users are placed in the role of various HIV/AIDS service
providers and follow the fictional “peer” characters through key moments in
their treatment, including an initial doctor’s visit, a meeting with a case
manager, and beginning their HIV treatment. The modules cover topics such as
finding the right doctor, treatment options and tips, healthy living, the
importance of social support, and mental health issues. The multi-format
presentation also allows individuals with low literacy skills and cognitive
disabilities to use the modules for self-education and service referrals.
PEERSpeak will be hosted at the AIDS Community Website.
The modules can be accessed at www.aidschicago.org/community.
The
AIDS Action Weekly Update
The Weekly Update is written with the
interests of our members in mind. If you are interested in membership with AIDS
Action, we invite you to contact aford@aidsaction.org.
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AIDS Action works to end the HIV epidemic
by advancing public policies that prevent new infections, provide care for
people living with HIV, and support the search for a cure. AIDS Action serves
as the national voice for AIDS service organizations, health departments, and
a diverse network of community-based organizations across the country,
working with and for people living with and affected by HIV.
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