In This Issue

For the past 16 years Delores Dockery has been fighting to end the HIV/AIDS epidemic. This year the activist, whose community-mobilizing work at Newark , N.J.,'s Hyacinth AIDS Foundation has earned her great acclaim, has had her profile raised a little higher. Here this member of the governance committee for this summer's International AIDS Conference talks about what she's looking forward to happening at the conference.

On the opening Sunday of AIDS 2012, the government will kick of a satellite session titled “Achieving the Goals of the U.S. National HIV/AIDS Strategy: Future Directions”. The session offers an opportunity to be updated on the National HIV/AIDS Strategy, as well as information from PACHA, CDC, HRSA and other federal partners. We provide contact information to sign up.

This June U.S., Indian and Ethiopian governments are collaborating with UNICEF to institute a Child Survival Call to Action intended to insure that every child reaches his or her fifth birthday, which involves preventing deaths from AIDS and other related causes, among others. Rajiv Shah at USAID, writes about the effort to protect our most vulnerable citizens.

Research shows that many PLWHA experience higher heart-disease risk when their bodies are low on Vitamin D. People living with HIV/AIDS are also far more likely than others to smoke, which not surprisingly weakens their immune system.

Finally, the Black AIDS Institute is building a team of community collaborators to help organize post-conference hubs in 13 cities around the country--from Oakland, to New Orleans, to New York. Please join us.

Yours in the struggle,

Phill