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May 16, 2008
Vol. VII, Number 17
This
Week in
1. AIDS Action Releases Statement for HIV Vaccine Awareness Day
2. Congressional
Briefing on HIV Prevention at the CDC
3. Budget and Appropriations Update
4. PEPFAR Reauthorization Update
5. HRSA Housing Policy – Information Request
Announcements
1. Upcoming Congressional Briefing: The Need for a National
AIDS Strategy
2. National
Asian and Pacific Islander HIV/AIDS Awareness Day is May 19th
This Week in
1. AIDS Action Releases Statement for HIV Vaccine Awareness Day
This Sunday, May 18th marks the eighth annual HIV Vaccine Awareness Day (HVAD). This annual observance is a day to recognize and thank the thousands of volunteers, community members, health professionals, and scientists who are working together to find a safe and effective HIV vaccine. It is also a day to educate our communities about the importance of preventive HIV vaccine research. In recognition of HIV Vaccine Awareness Day, community activities and media events are being held around the country. To learn more visit www.bethegeneration.org. For events happening in your area, and HIV vaccine research information produced by the National Institute for Allergy and Infectious Disease (NIAID), click here.
In advance of HVAD, AIDS Action
launched an
Below is AIDS Action’s Press Statement supporting the ideals of HIV Vaccine Awareness Day, which was released on Thursday, May 15th.
AIDS Action Urges Everyone to Help End the AIDS Epidemic
by Being Part of the Search for an HIV Vaccine
Twenty-six years into the AIDS epidemic, someone is newly
infected with HIV every 13 minutes in the
AIDS Action’s support for continued and increased investment
in HIV vaccine research is unwavering. Basic HIV vaccine research must remain
one of the many prevention strategies being pursued at a national level. We will continue to advocate for HIV vaccine
research here in
The best long-term hope for controlling the AIDS epidemic is
the development of safe, effective and affordable HIV vaccines. Historically,
vaccines have been the most powerful weapon against diseases like polio,
measles and Hepatitis B. In fact, no major viral epidemic has been defeated
without one.
Vaccine research is a difficult, complicated and iterative
process that takes many years. It took 47 years to develop a vaccine for polio,
and 42 for measles. This past September, the phase II Merck Step Trial was
halted due to ineffectiveness, raising a storm of scientific and media inquiry.
While the results were disappointing, the Step trial itself and its safety
mechanisms were successfully implemented.
The failure of one vaccine candidate does not signify the failure of all
HIV vaccine research. This setback, as have others, may be a stepping stone to
future success.
AIDS Action is committed to increase awareness of the need
for an HIV vaccine, improve the public’s knowledge of vaccine research and
create support for current and future HIV vaccine trials. We must focus on
increasing awareness among African Americans, Latinos, women and men who have
sex with men. The epidemic is taking an increasingly devastating toll on these
disproportionately affected populations, yet African Americans, Latinos, women,
and men who have sex with men are largely underrepresented in HIV vaccine
research clinical trials. A large HIV vaccine trial will require thousands of
participants of all races/ethnicities, genders and socioeconomic backgrounds to
ensure that the vaccine works in all populations. Therefore, community support
is essential in efforts to break down stigma and myths about HIV vaccine
research.
As a National Partner, AIDS Action will work to establish
leadership and support for HIV vaccine research and its clinical trials.
Through its membership network of AIDS service
organizations, health departments, health educators, and community-based
organizations across the country, AIDS Action is perfectly poised to
increase HIV vaccine awareness among key influencers and community and national
leaders.
So, here is what you can do to help. Find information about HIV vaccine research
efforts, Talk about HIV vaccine research with your family and friends, support
a trial volunteer, or contact your local trial site to become a volunteer or
joining a community advisory board. We encourage everyone to become involved in
HIV Vaccine Awareness Day.
Learn more about events in your area, how you can help, and the
facts about HIV vaccine research at www.bethegeneration.org
and www.aidsaction.org.
Additionally, the AIDS Vaccine Advocacy Coaltion (AVAC)
released their 11th annual report on Thursday, May 15th, AVAC Report
2008: The Search Must Continue.
2. Congressional
Briefing on HIV Prevention at the CDC
On Monday May 12, The AIDS Institute hosted a Congressional
briefing entitled, “Preventing HIV/AIDS in the
Dr. Richard Wolitski gave an overview of the current
epidemic and CDC’s domestic HIV/AIDS prevention priorities. There are
approximately 1.185 million people infected with HIV in the
Julie Scofield dedicated her presentation to explaining the ways that CDC spends its HIV prevention and surveillance budget across programs, emphasizing the program’s funding shortages. Currently 61% of CDC’s $662.5 million annual budget funds prevention programs through cooperative agreements with state and local health departments. 12% of the budget goes to technical assistance, and the remaining funds are divided between intramural expenses, grants to directly funded community based organizations, research, and program evaluation. Her presentation detailed the components of state HIV/AIDS prevention programs and their funding needs. Ms. Scofield then outlined NASTAD’s newly released Prevention Policy Agenda. NASTAD, along with many organizations in including AIDS Action, is requesting a near doubling of funding for CDC’s HIV/AIDS prevention budget. The HIV/AIDS community is urging Congress to invest $1.3 billion in HIV prevention funding.
Next, Suzanne Miller shared an assessment of CDC’s HIV
Prevention Interventions Portfolio. In 2007, the CDC released an updated
compendium of Evidenced-Based Interventions. The compendium includes 49
interventions for different target populations to be implemented in
community-based settings. The compendium is significant; community based
organizations directly funding by the CDC are required to use their CDC funding
to implement interventions that are included in this list. Yet, according to
Ms. Miller’s research the identified effective interventions and the
populations they target do not reflect the current realities of the epidemic.
For example, only four of the 49 interventions listed in the compendium are
targeted to men who have sex with men, despite the fact that in 2005
Lastly, Dr. Marjorie Hill, shared her perspectives on the current HIV crisis and how CDC could improve its prevention programs. She encouraged the CDC to develop a more integrated HIV prevention service model in community-based settings that address HIV prevention along with Hepatitis, Sexually Transmitted Infections, Substance Abuse, and Mental Health. She said, “Co-locating culturally appropriate clinical services in a community based program allows providers to coordinate the screening, case finding, and treatment of co-morbidities.” She also recommended that the CDC support more community level interventions such as community events, social marketing, and mass communication efforts, not just interventions targeted at changing individual behavior. Lastly, she urged the CDC Division of HIV/AIDS prevention to support structural interventions to address to causes of HIV arising from the physical, social, cultural, economic, and policy aspects of an environment. She listed several examples of critical structural interventions such as reforming prison sentencing, integrating economic empowerment with HIV prevention programming, and implementing comprehensive sexuality education in schools.
To view the briefing please visit, http://www.c-span.org/Search/basic.asp?BasicQueryText=The%20AIDS%20Institute.
Electronic copies of all presentations can be found at http://www.theaidsinstitute.org/asp/ai_currentIssues.asp?ms=5&ss=61.
3. Budget and
Appropriations Update
On Thursday, May 15th the Senate Appropriations Committee passed the Fiscal Year (FY) 2008 War Supplemental Appropriations. The supplemental is expected to go to the Senate Floor next week. The House version of the supplemental went directly to the floor without a mark up in the Appropriations Committee. The House also passed their version of the Supplemental bill on Thursday May, 15th.
This year the Senate supplemental has an amendment to increase funding for several domestic programs including a $400 million increase for the National Institutes of Health and a $275 million increase to the Food and Drug Administration (FDA).The House bill also included an amendment with increases for domestic programs. The domestic portion of the package passed 256 to 166 with 32 Republicans supporting the bill. To view the vote click here http://clerk.house.gov/evs/2008/roll330.xml. The House and the Senate Supplemental also includes a delay in the implementation of the 7 Medicaid regulations imposed by the Administration until March 2009. Among the regulations are new restrictions on rehabilitation services for people with chronic and temporary disabilities, funding of specialized medical transportation for children who receive Medicaid services to and from school, changes to Medicaid provider taxes implemented by the States funding a variety of Medicaid programs, restrictions on hospital outpatient services including dental and vision services, prohibitions on Medicaid payment for graduate medical education programs that train providers on the needs of disabled Medicaid beneficiaries, and limitations on payments to “safety net institutions.” AIDS Action has been particularly concerned by a restriction that would limit payments for case management services to a single case manager. Such a limitation may directly affect people living with HIV/AIDS who are Medicaid beneficiaries.
Click here to view highlights of the Supplemental Appropriations Bill.
Click here to read Chairman Byrd's (D-WV) Statement.
Click here to see a summary of the House supplemental.
Congress still has yet to pass a final FY 2009 Budget
resolution. Both chambers passed their versions of the Budget resolution in
early March. The Senate passed budget resolution provides a $5.27 billion increase over fiscal
year (FY) 2008 for the healthcare portion of the FY 2009 budget, which is called
“Function 550.” Function 550 covers most health spending
except Medicare, including spending on health services, research and training,
and consumer and occupational safety. The
House passed budget resolution increases healthcare funding by $4.44 billion over FY 2008. The bills must now be conferenced. The House
and Senate are in the process of naming conferees. The final conference version
is expected to be completed next week in both chambers. We expect negotiations
to include a $20 billion increase for the total discretionary domestic funding
over the President’s request.
After Congress sets
it budget resolution, FY 2009 appropriations work can begin. The Senate is
expected to publicly announce the 302b allocation, the total allocation for the
Labor-
AIDS Action has
learned from Appropriations staff that Senate Appropriators are requesting a
large portion of the proposed $20 billion total discretionary funding increase
over the President’s request for the Labor-
It is still unclear
how far the FY 2009 bills will go through the appropriations process this year.
Both the House and the Senate are expected to pass the Labor-
4. PEPFAR Reauthorization Update
With the increasing passage of time since the full House of Representatives passed the Lantos/Hyde Global Leadership against HIV/AIDS Tuberculosis and Malaria Reauthorization Act of 2008 (H.R. 5510) and the Senate Foreign Relations Committee approved the Senate version (S.2731), there is growing concern regarding action on the bill by the full Senate. The House passed the reauthorization bill on April 2nd and the Senate Foreign Relations Committee passed the bill on March 14th. The Senate was expected to take up the bill soon after the Memorial Day recess. However, as the final week before the recess approaches, the Senate leadership has not indicated when, and even if, the bill will be brought to the floor.
Senator Richard Lugar (IN), Ranking Member of the Foreign Relations Committee and Senator John Sununu (R-NH) are circulating a “Dear Colleague” letter among Senate Republicans addressed to Majority Leader Harry Reid, of Nevada, and Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, of Kentucky, urging action on the PEPFAR reauthorization bill (S. 2731). Among several points, the letter notes the importance of enacting the reauthorization legislation before the G-8 meeting in early July.
Reflecting the concern over the bill, organizations and advocates are stepping up efforts in support of Senate action on the bill. These efforts include urging Democratic Senators to co-sponsor S. 2731. Seven conservative, Republican Senators are currently blocking the bill: Tom Coburn (OK), Jim DeMint (SC), Jeff Sessions (AL), Saxby Chambliss (GA), David Vitter (LA), Jim Bunning (KY) and Richard Burr (NC). At least 60 votes will be needed to bring the bill to the Senate floor.
Efforts to overcome the block by Mr. Coburn and the six
other Senators were buoyed up by a piece by the conservative columnist Michael
Gerson in the May 14 edition of the
The Gerson column can be found at: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/05/13/AR2008051302305.html
5. HRSA Housing Policy – Information Request
On
AIDS Action and the National AIDS
Housing Coalition (
Announcements
1. Upcoming
Congressional Briefing: The Need for a National AIDS Strategy
On Tuesday, May 20th AIDS Action will join 30
HIV/AIDS organizations to host a Congressional Briefing entitled, “It’s Time to
End the Epidemic at Home: The Need for a National AIDS Strategy.” AIDS Action’s
Executive Director, Rebecca Haag, will moderate the briefing. The Briefing will
feature the following speakers Dr. David Holtgrave, Johns Hopkins University; Mario Perez, Director, Office of AIDS Programs and Policy, LA County Dept of
Public Health; Phill Wilson, Executive
Director, The Black AIDS Institute; Kathie Hiers, CEO,
AIDS Alabama; Terrell Halaska, a
Partner at
The briefing will take place
Click here for
National AIDS Strategy Briefing details.
2. National Asian and
Pacific Islander HIV/AIDS Awareness Day is May 19th
May 19th is the fourth annual National Asian and
Pacific Islander HIV/AIDS Awareness Day. Organizations around the country
dedicated to providing HIV/AIDS services to Asians and Pacific Islanders (APIs)
will host events to raise awareness of the impact of HIV/AIDS among
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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