President Obama Announces New Discussions on HIV and AIDS
Saturday August 22, 2009
Beginning next week, the White House office of HIV/AIDS Policy will launch National HIV/AIDS Community Discussions, a series of public discussions on HIV and AIDS. The discussions will provide a public venue to explore what's needed and what can be done with regards to HIV and AIDS in the US. According to the White House Office of HIV/AIDS Policy the goal of the discussions is to ultimately reduce the incidence of HIV; increase access to HIV care; and to end the disparities that exist in HIV care. The first event in the series of discussions will be held August 25 in Atlanta.
What Would You Tell the President About the Needs of the HIV Community?
So if you had the chance to speak in one of these events or to chat with President Obama, what would you tell him? What do you think is the most important issue facing the HIV community right now?Related Information
Dear Mr. President Obama,having woked in the medical field as a laboratory tech and having my 1st encounter of HIV by a needle stick.And presently working in hte field of HIV it would be a disservice
to not having Ryan WHite Care ACT TO BE EXTENDED 1THERE ARE MANY FOLKS WHO WOULD LITERALLY DIE DUE TO LACK OF CARE AND INFORMATION.MANY ARE UN AWARE OF THEIR STATUS AND AFRAID TO KNOW BE CAUSE MANY CAN CARE LESS BECAUSE IT IS NOT THEM. pLEASE ACT NOW THANK YOU.
Mr.President,
I am writing on behalf of every person living with this virus.Without this funding people WILL die! That is not a simple statement, it is a fact. The medication,on average, for someone living with this disease is around $4000 a month!This Act is allowing those less fortunate to survive. Speaking as someone who this hits close to home, i am here to plee with you that you remember those people that this will affect if this Act expires! It is not only the people who have this virus, but there family and friends as well. If it were your family affected, what would your vote be? Please..Thank you
Dear Mr. President:
Thank you for addressing the issue of HIV/AIDS. The government must get involved in educating people of all ages about this insidious disease. It’s been over 25 years since HIV/AIDS was diagnosed in people in the U.S. For so many years, the media and government didn’t pay much attention to what would eventually become a worldwide pandemic.
I know from my experience with my mother’s battle with AIDS that we have to educate people for many reasons. First, to prevent further infections. Young people today account for approximately 50 percent of all new infections. The message is not getting out to them. High schools must take an active roll in educating young people about prevention of HIV. So many people have misconceptions.
My elderly mother was transfused with HIV contaminated blood while undergoing heart bypass surgery. She and my father kept her illness a secret because they feared stigma and rejection from friends. Only a handful of family memebers were aware of her illness. She felt like a leper. It was so sad to know she felt “dirty” because of her infection.
Two months before she died, she asked me to write about her battle with AIDS (after she had died) so that other families wouldn’t have to suffer in silence as we had. I honored her wishes by giving her a voice in my book, “A Burden of Silence: My Mother’s Battle with AIDS.”
Melinda Gates stated at the AIDS International Conference in Toronto that we must keep talking about AIDS…even if it’s one person to another. I believe that when we stop talking about AIDS, it tends to get ignored. Right now, it seems to have fallen off the radar screen in America. We CAN’T let that happen. We must keep it in the limelight.
Since this is a preventable disease, we must make it a TOP priority to inform, educate, and heighten awareness of HIV/AIDS.
History will judge us on how we responded to the AIDS pandemic. So far, it won’t judge us kindly. As U.S. Secretary, Kofi Annan stated, “Experts now agree that HIV/AIDS is the worst epidemic history has ever faced. Yet, among the public at large, there is sill a profound lack of knowledge and awareness, especially among young people.”
I thank you for taking the initiative in addressing HIV/AIDS to the people of the United States. Also, please keep the Ryan White Care Act alive.
Thank you so much.
Dear Mr. President:
Thank you for addressing the issue of HIV/AIDS. The government must become involved in educating people of all ages about this insidious disease. It’s been over 25 years since HIV/AIDS was diagnosed in people in the U.S. For so many years, the media and government didn’t pay much attention to what would eventually become a worldwide pandemic.
I know from my experience with my mother’s battle with AIDS that we have to educate people for many reasons. First, we must educate young people to help prevent further infections. People between the ages of 14 and 25 account for approximately 50 percent of all new infections. The message is not getting out to them. High schools must take an active role in educating students about the prevention of HIV. So many people have misconceptions about HIV/AIDS. We must also educate people to eradicate the stigma associated with AIDS. The stigma can be as painful as the disease itself.
My elderly mother was transfused with HIV contaminated blood while undergoing heart bypass surgery. She and my father kept her illness a secret because they feared stigma and rejection from friends. Only a handful of family members were aware of her illness. She felt like a leper. It was so sad to know she felt “dirty” because of her infection. The fear and stigma still exists today.
Two months before my mother died, she said, “Nancy, after I’m gone, I want you to write about this disease that killed me, so that other families won’t have to suffer in silence as we have.” I honored her wishes by giving her a “voice” in my book, “A Burden of Silence: My Mother’s Battle with AIDS.”
Melinda Gates, wife of Bill Gates, made the following statement at the AIDS International Conference in Toronto, “We must keep talking about AIDS…even if it’s one person to another.” I believe that when we stop talking about AIDS, it tends to get ignored. Right now, it seems to have fallen off the radar screen in America. We CAN’T let that happen. We must keep it in the limelight.
Since this is a preventable disease, we must make it a TOP priority to inform, educate, and heighten awareness of HIV/AIDS. We must continue funding programs that help infected individuals. Our goal must be to cut down the infection rate through AIDS prevention education.
History will judge us on how we responded to the AIDS pandemic. So far, it won’t judge us kindly. As U.S. Secretary, Kofi Annan stated, “Experts now agree that HIV/AIDS is the worst epidemic history has ever faced. Yet, among the public at large, there is still a profound lack of knowledge and awareness, especially among young people.”
I thank you for taking the initiative in addressing HIV/AIDS to the people of the United States. Also, please keep the Ryan White Care Act alive.
Thank you so much.
Dear Mr Obama
Greetings .
Thank you so much for the addressing the issues related to HIV/AIDS. i feel government must get involve in HIV/ AIDs issues. well I belong to Indian and In India lot of stigma & discrimination related to HIV / AIDS coz lack of knowledge ppl living with HIV /AIDS they feel their life is become most horrible. Coz of aging stigma & discrimination. And misconception. Ppl don’t have proper knowledge related to this infection so I feel government should take the strong step towards this disease. To spread the awareness and to get proper knowledge. Special in village and to young youth.
warm reagrds…