“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.
White House Taking Comments on NHAS through Monday, November 23rd
The Office of National AIDS Policy website now shows that comments will be taken on the National HIV/AIDS Strategy through Monday, November 23rd.
Please take this opportunity to weigh in on one of the most important domestic policy discussions to take place in recent years.
White House will facilitate community access to panel drafting National HIV/AIDS Strategy
The interagency federal panel that will draft the National HIV/AIDS Strategy for the U.S. will meet with community representatives, said Greg Millett of the White House Office of National AIDS Policy (ONAP) at a recent meeting sponsored by the Coalition for a National AIDS Strategy.
The announcement is welcome news, as Jeff Crowley, ONAP director, has made clear that the interagency panel writing the nation’s first comprehensive HIV/AIDS plan would be comprised solely of officials from relevant federal agencies and departments. The Coalition for a National AIDS Strategy, which has advocated for a National HIV/AIDS Strategy (NHAS) since 2007, wrote Mr. Crowley earlier this year to urge the White House to create meaningful roles for community representatives to shape the plan. A coalition of women’s HIV/AIDS advocates also urged Crowley to make direct community involvement in shaping the plan a priority. While short of the request to include community members among the plan's drafters, news that the panel will meeting with community representatives is a new and positive development.
Click below to read more.
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.
Coalition issues letter to President Obama: Remove ban on syringe exchange funding
As Congress continues to consider legislation to remove the federal ban on syringe exchange funding, the Coalition for a National AIDS Strategy called on President Obama to take a leadership role, pushing Congress to send him a bill this year.
The letter was delivered to the President on October 9, 2009. The full text is below:
Dear Mr. President,
Thank you for your commitment to developing and implementing a National HIV/AIDS Strategy (NHAS) for the United States. We are among the 500 organizations and 2,400 individuals who signed the Call to Action for a NHAS and who, for the past several years, have been advocating for a more coordinated, accountable and outcomes-oriented approach to HIV/AIDS in the United States through a NHAS.
As organizations and individuals committed to an evidence-based, effective HIV prevention effort, we also understand the urgency of removing the ban on federal funds for syringe exchange programs (SEPs). As you know, numerous federally funded studies have found that SEPs reduce HIV and hepatitis C incidence without increasing drug use or crime. Yet lack of resources makes it impossible for SEPs around the country to meet communities’ needs for the essential prevention, treatment and other services these programs provide. The challenge is particularly acute as states across the country grapple with fiscal shortfalls by reducing state funding for vital HIV/AIDS prevention programming, including SEPs.
Earlier this year, you reaffirmed your support for removing the ban on federal funding for SEPs and indicated you want to eliminate the ban as part of the NHAS process. We are writing to let you know that efforts to remove the SEPs ban cannot wait until completion of your Administration’s NHAS.
(Click below to read the rest.)