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June 2003 On Monday, June 9, the National Organizations Responding to AIDS (NORA) Coalition, for which AIDS Action serves as the convener, held its monthly meeting. Dr. Ida Onorato, Acting Deputy Director of the Division of HIV/AIDS Prevention at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) served as the featured speaker. Dr. Onorato's presentation focused on the recently announced changes to the CDC's HIV prevention strategy. In the April 18, 2003 issue of the Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report (MMWR), the CDC announced plans to refocus its HIV prevention efforts so that it could respond better to the changing needs of the epidemic. Since then, the CDC has held four regional consultations with community-based organizations and other concerned members of the HIV/AIDS community to get their input on select portions of the CDC’s new prevention strategy. Dr. Onorato's presentation to NORA was similar to the presentations given at each of the regional consultations. It focused on the main components of the new guidelines and offered the CDC’s reasons for making the changes. The CDC’s revamped approach will focus on voluntary testing and prevention with positives. It will follow four main strategies; 1) make voluntary HIV testing a routine part of medical care; 2) implement new models for diagnosing HIV infections outside medical settings; 3) prevent new infections by working with persons diagnosed with HIV and their partners; and 4) further decrease perinatal HIV transmission. Following the presentation, NORA members engaged Dr. Onorato in a lively discussion about the new guidelines and discussed ways in which the coalition can most effectively respond to the CDC's proposal. In addition to the presentation, NORA members received copies of the "National Organizations Responding to AIDS (NORA) Fiscal Year 2004 HIV/AIDS Appropriations Recommendations," which is currently being delivered to Congress and members of the Administration. |
