US AIDS activists look to Obama

AIDS ADVOCATES INAUGURATE OBAMA AS THE PRESIDENT WHO WILL FINALLY CHANGE THE WAY THE U.S. FIGHTS AIDS Activists Celebrate Obama's Bold National and Global AIDS Platform, Urge Implementation in First 100 Days (Washington, DC) – For the first time in recent memory, AIDS activists are marking World AIDS Day not by risking arrest in protests at the White House, but by lauding the next president for the hope he brings to those affected by the AIDS crisis. Today, one thousand people living with HIV and allies from across the United States rallied in front of the White House to hold an "inauguration ceremony" for Barack Obama as the president who, during his first one hundred days, will prioritize policies to end the AIDS epidemic in the U.S. and worldwide. To chants of "yes we can!" advocates assembled five giant puzzle pieces representing the key components of the National AIDS Strategy that President-elect Obama has pledged to develop. Activists then marched to the transition team headquarters where they congratulated the incoming administration on Obama's bold commitments, and challenged the President-elect to prioritize implementation of his HIV/AIDS campaign promises from Day One. "After twenty-seven years of the HIV epidemic, no president has made fighting AIDS at home and abroad a real priority for his administration," said NYC AIDS Housing Network member Wayne Stark, who spoke at the rally. "President Bush all but ignored the AIDS crisis in the United States, even while the epidemic continued to grow, especially in marginalized communities. In spite of recent progress in beginning to remove ideological strings attached to global prevention funding, the U.S. continues to limit how organizations on the ground in poor countries can fight HIV. President Obama has thankfully said he will bring change to the U.S. AIDS approach." President-elect Obama has made historically bold commitments to reform and expand U.S. AIDS policies. His campaign promised to develop a National AIDS Strategy that includes guaranteed treatment and care for all people with HIV in the US. The campaign pledge goes on to detail a commitment to housing as an integral part of HIV services, an end to the federal ban on funding for syringe exchange, and a call to redirect abstinence-only-until-marriage sex education funding into honest and accurate programs like comprehensive HIV prevention programs. Internationally, Obama has promised to build on President Bush's global AIDS plan by removing the ideological strings the Bush administration attached to prevention funding. Specifically, Obama has committed to end the Prostitution Loyalty Oath and to support an evidence-based approach to HIV prevention that doesn't overly emphasize abstinence and fidelity at the expense of condoms. He has also pledged to increase funding for the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, TB and Malaria, a multilateral program which fights the three killer diseases in over 170 countries and which is facing a major funding shortfall. "We know President-elect Obama faces challenges, including a financial crisis, but fighting AIDS must be a top priority" said ACT UP Philadelphia member Waheedah Shabazz-el, who spoke at the rally. "We are holding an inauguration ceremony because we share his vision of hope and change, and to show our support for implementation, in his first 100 days, of the visionary commitments Obama has made to fight AIDS in the U.S. and around the world." Today's Inauguration was organized by ACT UP Philadelphia, Africa Action, African Services Committee, American Medical Student Association (AMSA), Community HIV/AIDS Mobilization Project (CHAMP), Health GAP, Housing Works, NYC AIDS Housing Network (NYCAHN), Proyecto Sol Filadelphia, Student Global AIDS Campaign and VOCAL-NY Users Union. A list of over 70 endorsing organizations can be found at www.100daystofightaids.org/endorsements. Obama's AIDS Plan, released during the campaign, can be found at www.barackobama.com/pdf/AIDSFactSheet.pdf. ---- Comments by people living with AIDS and civil society experts: Waheedah Shabazz-El, ACT-UP Philadelphia, Community HIV/AIDS Mobilization Project (CHAMP) – "We in the HIV/AIDS community have traveled from near and far to our Nation's Capitol to encourage and show our support for President Elect Obama. Obama has promised to do what no other president has promised to do since the beginning of the AIDS crisis over 27 years ago – implement a National HIV/AIDS Strategy with time lines, measurable goals and accountability of all federal agencies. Key to this is ensuring prevention justice. This administration bring an end to funding harmful abstinence-only sex education and replace it with funding for comprehensive sex education programs proven to reduce unintended pregnancies, STD's and HIV. Obama must stop under-funding of the domestic HIV prevention budget by providing an additional $4.8 Billion over 5 years." Derrek Millett, American Medical Students Association (AMSA), Howard University – "As a national leader of the American Medical Student Association, I recognize that our global health care system is broken - but I also know that we have the technology, the skills and the knowledge to heal it, and to treat everyone with HIV/AIDS, tuberculosis, and malaria. This July I will become a physician, entrusted with the highest honor of caring for my patients' health, yet I know that, because of underfunding for programs like the Global Fund, the world's poorest patients will not have access to treatment or prevention for these diseases. This injustice saddens and angers me, yet I am hopeful that, with pressure that physicians in training and patients united together bring to bear today, this new U.S. Presidency will guarantee funding for the Global Fund and for U.S. programs which ensure that the treatment and preventive care that my colleagues and I give to our patients in the U.S. and all across the world is affordable, accessible and just." Johnny Guaylupo, Housing Works, New York, NY – "As I person living with AIDS and one who works in the field, I can tell you firsthand that early intervention for individuals infected with HIV saves lives. It is appalling that in 2008, we are still waiting until people get sick to provide them with necessary treatment. I am happy that President-elect Obama sees the value in providing treatment and care to low income Americans infected with HIV, and has pledged to support the Early Treatment for HIV Act." Gerald LeMelle, Executive Director, Africa Action – "Over the past five years, the U.S. has made great strides in fighting AIDS around the world, yet 33 million people remain infected with the virus, and HIV/AIDS is still the leading cause of death in sub-Saharan Africa. Barack Obama has made bold pledges to build on President Bush's global AIDS plan by removing ideological restrictions on comprehensive prevention programs and increasing support for the multilateral Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria. Starting to implement these promises during his first 100 days would go a long way toward reasserting U.S. moral leadership in the world. Amid international economic turmoil, evidence-driven programs to combat AIDS abroad remain a smart and strategic investment in human security." Amanda Lugg, African Services Committee, New York, NY – "As an African immigrant and like many of us in Africa I celebrated the election of Barack Obama as the next President of the United States and his commitment to the needs of those around the world who are impacted by HIV/AIDS. Too many of us have died for lack of medication. Too many of us live each day at risk without the support and prevention services we need to survive. Stand by your commitments and change the U.S. global AIDS plan into one that sets a target number of people who will be treated, supports generic mediation, and funds evidence-based HIV prevention programs." Joe Pressley, Harlem United Community AIDS Center, New York, NY – "Studies have indicated that homophobia and stigma create a sure recipe for increased rates of HIV and AIDS in our nation. As part of a strategic national plan to address HIV, I call upon President-elect Obama and the rest of government to show real leadership in our collective fight to quell stigma on all fronts. We need a strategic, comprehensive national AIDS strategy that delivers real solutions, especially to those communities most at risk of or disproportionately impacted by HIV and AIDS." Dazon Dixon Diallo, President, Sister Love Inc., Board Member, Health GAP – "Rosa Parks sat down so Martin Luther King could walk. Martin Luther King walked so Barack Obama could run. Barack Obama ran (and will continue to run this country) so our children can fly. If we do not have a National Plan to End AIDS that is meaningful, powerful, forceful and fully executed for all Americans and our fellow global citizens, then our children will not only not fly today, but it may take another generation of people to again wait for the next Change Leader, and to regenerate the wings we all need to fly."

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