Letter to the Editor

The Budget and Beyond: A Call to Action for the HIV/AIDS Community and Government Officials: What we need beyond increased funding to end HIV/AIDS in this U.S.

While we applaud the President’s request to increase HIV/AIDS funding by $40 million (1.7 percent) in the Fiscal Year 2011 budget, I am concerned that this number falls short after the 8 years of flat-funding under the previous administration. Sometimes we count our blessings no matter how small they are, but we should never turn a blind eye to fully funding what is needed to care and treat and prevent HIV/AIDS. The budget, the framework of how we spend resources, impacts the major federal agencies that oversee HIV/AIDS programming in the U.S. As HIV/AIDS advocates, we must hold government officials accountable during the appropriations process: it is imperative that AIDS dollars are disbursed in a manner that reflects the impact of the epidemic.

This means ensuring that communities hardest hit by the AIDS epidemic receive the funding they need. In 2008, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) reported that HIV incidence was 40 percent higher than previously estimated, with over 55,500 new HIV cases occurring in the U.S. annually. Of these cases, 70 percent were in communities of color. African Americans alone accounted for just under half of all new HIV infections, followed by Latinos, who showed a significant increase in HIV incidence at 18%. Incidence rates among Asian and Pacific Islander and Native American/Alaska Native communities showed dramatic increases as well.

The AIDS community--and federal agencies--must look beyond HIV funding when it comes to mitigating HIV/AIDS in the U.S. We must address the socioeconomic determinants that have undermined the overall health and welfare of communities heavily impacted by AIDS: lack of affordable housing; limited access to education and health care; and high rates of malnutrition, substance use, incarceration and poverty. These determinants have helped lay the foundation for HIV/AIDS in minority communities and must be addressed through appropriate resources--and the will of the AIDS community.

I believe that re-investment in America’s health infrastructure through health reform and increased HIV/AIDS funding will lead us into an era where sound public policy, evidence-based health and HIV/AIDS programming; and community meet and produce great outcomes.

Ravinia Hayes-Cozier is director of government relations and public policy for the National Minority AIDS Council in Washington, DC.

The views expressed in this letter are not necessarily those of the Black AIDS Institute.