“AIDS in America” Organizations Deliver Letter to President
The following is a letter delivered to President Obama from 18 national HIV/AIDS organizations encouraging the inclusion of four key elements in the final development of a National HIV/AIDS Strategy.
April 20, 2010
The Honorable Barack Obama
The White House
Washington. D.C.
Dear Mr. President,
As leaders of national organizations that have come together under the “AIDS In America” umbrella, we thank you for your commitment to the development of a National HIV/AIDS Strategy for the United States and for the progress that has been made on its development. We understand that the federal interagency work group is expected soon to make its recommendations on the Strategy to the White House Office of National AIDS Policy (ONAP). As the White House reviews the recommendations of the interagency work group and crafts a National HIV/AIDS Strategy for addressing the domestic HIV/AIDS epidemic, we would like to offer four key elements which we believe must be reflected in a Strategy for it to be successful.
National AIDS Strategy call to action issued at National Equality March
Ronald Johnson, Deputy Executive Director of AIDS Action Council, delivered a rousing speech at the HIV/AIDS Rally & Vigil at the National Equality March (held over the weekend of October 10-11, 2009). The march marked the first time in nearly ten years that lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender Americans and their allies converged on our nation's capital from around the country to advocate for their rights.
Amidst calls for pro-equality measures long left sitting on Congress's shelves, Johnson's speech highlighted a recent success of HIV/AIDS activists, including many LGBT activists: President Obama's commitment to creating a National AIDS Strategy through the Office of National AIDS Policy.
The call to action now, Johnson said, is ensuring that the process for creating the strategy meets to goals of the framework hundreds of organizations and thousands of individuals contributed to creating through the Coalition for a National AIDS Strategy.
Click below to read his speech in full.