News 2009
Mobilization Summit
Black Leaders Convene AIDS Mobilization Summit in Response to New Washington D.C. HIV/AIDS Data
WASHINGTON, D.C. – Leaders of traditional Black political, civil rights, social, and faith based organizations will come together with local AIDS and community based organizations on Monday, May 4, 2009 for a D.C. Black AIDS Leadership Mobilization Summit to respond to recent data released by the D.C. Department of Health. The meeting will take place 5 p.m. until 9 p.m. at the Kaiser Family Foundation located at 1310 G. Street, NW, Washington, D.C. 20005. National television commentator Jeff Johnson will moderate the event.
On March 16, 2009, the D.C. Department of Health released its latest HIV surveillance report showing three percent of residents in the District already infected with HIV, the virus that causes AIDS. Four percent of Black residents in the District are estimated to already be infected with HIV. For Black men in the District the HIV prevalence was seven percent and 10 percent of Blacks in the District aged 40-49 are estimated to be infected. “We have an extraordinary opportunity to change the trajectory of the AIDS epidemic in our nation's capital, and we must be committed to this fight,” said Representative Donna M. Christensen (D-V.I.). Convened by the Congressional Black Caucus Foundation, (CBCF) the D.C. Department of Health, and other national and local organizations, the summit will focus on engaging and mobilizing traditional Black organizations in Washington, D.C., to act against AIDS in a concerted effort with local HIV/AIDS organizations. Organizers of the event are calling upon community leaders to seize the opportunity and create momentum for a mass Black mobilization against HIV/AIDS. This disease is destroying many African-American families in the District of Columbia,” said Elsie L. Scott, Ph.D., president and chief executive officer for CBCF. “We cannot remain passive out of a sense of denial or complacency. This is very serious and we must address it if we are to save lives,” she said. One of the major objectives of the meeting is to create a Black AIDS Mobilization plan for the District. In another study of heterosexual relationships and HIV in the District, the DC Department of Health found: Rep. Barbara Lee, of California and chair of the Congressional Black Caucus (CBC) and Del. Donna M. Christensen of the Virgin Islands and , head of the CBC Health Brain Trust will join leaders from various national and local community organizations to build a five point community mobilization agenda that will: Other organizational partners of the summit include: the NAACP, National Urban League, National Council of Negro Women, National Action Network, American Urban Radio Networks, Coalition of Black Trade Unionists, National Coalition of 100 Black Women, National Newspaper Publishers Association, National Organization of Black County Officials, National Medical Association, Phi Beta Sigma Fraternity, SCLC and 100 Black Men of America, the Community Education Group, Us Helping Us, The Women’s Collective, Convent Baptist Church, Unity Health Care, Whitman Walker Clinic/Max Robinson Center, NAPWA, Pediatric AIDS/HIV Care, Family & Medical Counseling Services, and the YWCA. “Building a modern response to our modern HIV epidemic—with its scale and complexity—needs all leaders and community members to ask “what can I do” and to take action. We applaud the Congressional Black Caucus Foundation and the other summit partners for this community leadership call to action”, said Dr. Shannon L. Hader, Senior Deputy Director D.C. Department of Health. The Congressional Black Caucus Foundation, Inc. (CBCF) was established in 1976 as a nonpartisan, nonprofit, public policy, research and education institute to help improve the socioeconomic circumstances of African Americans and other underserved communities. CBCF recently joined the Act Against AIDS Leadership Initiative (AAALI), a five-year partnership with 14 of the nations leading African-American Organizations. The summit is being supported by the M.A.C AIDS Fund and Kaiser Permanente. For more information or questions on this upcomin
New national survey by the Kaiser Family Foundation provides insights into Black America’s attitudes
Washington, D.C.—Today's report by the Kaiser Family Foundation finding that Americans’ sense of urgency about HIV/AIDS has fallen dramatically provides some insights into the AIDS epidemic in Black America. “This report, on the heels of last month’s report by the D.C. office of AIDS showing a 4% HIV prevalence among Black residents in Washington D.C. provides some context for the AIDS epidemic in Black America”, says Phill Wilson, CEO of the Black AIDS Institute. Last August, the Institute released a report finding that if Black America were a country on to itself, it would have the 16th largest epidemic in the world.
“There is good news and not so good news in this survey”, says Wilson. “Fortunately, most of the not so good news we already knew and are working on. For example, while the percentage of Black Americans who have seen or read “a lot” or “some” about HIV/AIDS has declined, the decline is not as great as the decline in other groups. This is a tribute to the amazing job Black media is doing of keeping HIV/AIDS on the radar in Black communities. Unfortunately it also speaks to the fact that 58% of Black Americans know someone who is living with HIV/AIDS—38% of those they know are a family member or close friend. Key findings of the survey include: Black Americans believe we are not spending enough on the domestic AIDS epidemic and spending matters. • 68% of Black Americans believe the federal government is spending too little on the domestic AIDS epidemic and 57% believe the federal government is spending too little on the domestic AIDS epidemic compared to other diseases. • Two thirds of Black Americans believe spending more on prevention and treatment would make meaningful progress toward ending the AIDS epidemic. While there has been a decline in the sense of urgency about HIV in Black America. The sense of urgency remains high. • 65% of Black Americans feel AIDS is as urgent as or more urgent in Black communities today than it was a few years ago. • 34% of Black Americans believe we are losing ground in the fight against AIDS. • 51% of Black Americans are very or somewhat worried that they will become HIV positive, and 80% are worried that one of their children will get infected. • Among Black Americans, aged 18 – 29, 40% are very or somewhat concerned about getting infected with HIV. • 67% of Black Americans have spoken to a doctor about HIV, and 68% have spoken to a partner. • 68% of Black Americans report having taken an HIV test compared to 57% Hispanics/Latinos, and 42% of whites. • 47% of Black Americans aged 18-29 have been tested in the last 12 months. The Kaiser survey confirms what many Black AIDS activists have been saying for a while: We have a long way to go toward ending the AIDS epidemic in Black communities, but the stage has been set. Black people are responding to the AIDS epidemic more than ever before. If you take the Kaiser findings and combined them with lessons learned from the latest D.C. surveillance report, you have a road map—create a mass Black Mobilization focused on: This new survey by the Kaiser Family Foundation is an important piece of the information puzzle needed to end the domestic AIDS epidemic. It illustrates how complex the HIV/AIDS epidemic is, especially in Black communities. It also helps us better understand where we need to focus our energies. With a new commitment from the Obama Administration, and new energy in Black communities, the time is right to see significant changes in the trajectory of the AIDS epidemic in Black America. The Black AIDS Institute is the only national HIV/AIDS think tank in the United States focused exclusively on Black people. The Institute offers training and capacity building, disseminates information, interprets and recommends both private and public sector HIV/AIDS policy, and provides advocacy and mobilization from a uniquely and unapologetically Black point of view.
STATEMENT FROM THE BLACK AIDS INSTITUTE
SHOCKING NEW DATA ON WASHINGTON, D.C.’S AIDS EPIDEMIC REVEALS APPALLING FAILURE TO ADDRESS THE CRISIS
Today’s report in the Washington Post that 4% of Black residents in Washington D.C. – and 7% of Black men – have tested HIV-positive underscores the degree to which America has lost its way in the fight against AIDS.
“The AIDS epidemic in Washington DC is an unmitigated disaster and a national disgrace,” said Phill Wilson, founder and CEO of the Black AIDS Institute.
In the capital of the world’s richest and most powerful country, HIV prevalence is higher than in Port-au-Prince , the capital of the poorest country in the Western Hemisphere . HIV prevalence among Black men in Washington is 40% higher than in sub-Saharan Africa generally. Infection levels among all Blacks in the District of Columbia are higher than in 28 African countries.
Shockingly, these statistics likely understate the extent of HIV infection in Washington D.C., as they include only people who have tested HIV-positive.
For years, the Black AIDS Institute has been urging our country’s leaders to pay attention to the frightening growth of HIV infection in Black America. To date, these calls have not been heeded. In 2008, only 4 cents out of every dollar spent on HIV by the federal government supported HIV prevention activities.
President Obama’s economic stimulus package is designed to breathe life into a moribund economy. The Black AIDS Institute is calling on the President and the congress to allocate dollars from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act to fund HIV testing and prevention efforts in Black America. “If there were ever shovel ready projects that would create jobs and save lives this is it,” says Wilson. “America urgently needs an AIDS stimulus to awaken it from its lethargic response to an epidemic that is spiraling out of control.”
Congress should immediately increase funding to cost-effective programs that promote HIV testing, prevent new HIV infections, and link people who test HIV-positive to life-saving medical care. The federal government should implement a massive new social marketing initiative to make knowing one’s HIV status a basic social norm in Black communities. And federal leaders must provide robust support to build capacity in Black organizations to help lead this fight.
The statistics released by the District constitute a failing grade on the nation’s AIDS report card:
• Nearly 50% of people surveyed in the hardest-hit areas of Washington report having overlapping sexual partners in the last 12 months. Yet virtually no resources have been directed toward programs to alert sexually active adults to the special dangers of concurrent partnerships.
• 40% of sexually active adults surveyed in high-prevalence neighborhoods were not aware of their HIV status. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 75% of the new HIV infections in this country are caused by people who don’t know their HIV status.
• 70% of those surveyed in Washington said they did not use a condom the last time they had sex.
What is happening in Washington is also happening elsewhere. In New York City’s Manhattan borough, 17% of Black middle-aged men are living with HIV – a level of infection that approaches national HIV prevalence in South Africa, the country with the largest number of HIV-infected people in the world. Last year, the CDC reported that the annual rate of new HIV infections was roughly 40% greater than previously believed and that Black people account for nearly one out of two new infections.
In earlier years, an effective response to AIDS in Black America was hindered by low levels of community awareness and commitment to the fight. This is no longer the case. Fourteen leading national Black organizations have joined with the Black AIDS Institute and its partners to implement a national AIDS action strategy and to commit specific, tangible, and trackable resources to AIDS activities. Unfortunately, these organizations have lacked a partner in the federal government for the last eight years.
Over the last eight years, funding for HIV prevention and the crucial federal Minority AIDS Initiative has declined in real terms. The results are all too evident in the shocking figures released by the District’s HIV/AIDS Administration.
Newly Appointed Director of the Office of National AIDS Policy, Mr. Jeffrey Crowley, Is Expert in Healthcare Reform But Has Scant Experience Fighting AIDS Where It's Worst: Black America. Black AIDS Institute Pledges Assistance. Black AIDS Institute Pledges Assistance
New National AIDS Director: Promising, But Challenges Remain
The Black AIDS Institute (The Institute) welcomes President Obama’s selection of Jeffrey Crowley as the new head of the White House Office of National AIDS Policy. The selection underscores the President’s commitment to reinvigorate our national AIDS response, filling a critical post that had remained vacant for more than two years. By tapping someone with such a strong background in AIDS Policy, the Administration indicates its seriousness in addressing one of the country’s greatest health threats. Crowley’s experience in public health research and expertise in Medicaid policy, including Medicaid prescription drug policies; Medicare policy; and consumer education and training underscores the administration’s commitment to make sure HIV/AIDS are included in the Healthcare reform conversation facing our nation. A stronger public health response to AIDS goes hand in hand with our long-overdue effort to achieve universal health coverage. But America simply cannot win the fight against AIDS unless it wins it in Black America. Renewing our fight against AIDS in the United States requires that our leaders recognize the complete nature of the foe we are facing. “AIDS in America today, is a Black disease,” says Phill Wilson, CEO of the Black AIDS Institute. Regardless of the lens used to look at the domestic epidemic – gender, sexual orientation, age, socioeconomic class, education level, or geographic region – Black people bear the brunt of the AIDS epidemic in America. “We are less than 13% of the US population,” says Wilson, “yet we are nearly 50% of the new cases, 50% of people living with HIV/AIDS, and roughly 50% of the annual HIV/AIDS deaths in the US.” Mr. Crowley’s dearth of experience in Black communities is reason for pause. Although we would have preferred the President’s appointment to this post be someone with stronger ties to Black communities, even with the most intelligent leadership, the federal government cannot conquer AIDS on its own. The Black AIDS Institute urges Mr. Crowley and the administration to reach out to Black leaders and communities to join forces in a common effort to reduce new HIV infections and AIDS deaths. We also call on traditional Black leaders to initiate an HIV/AIDS dialogue with the administration. Finally, the Institute pledges to do all it can to assist Mr. Crowley and President Obama turn the tide against HIV in our community and our country.
Making Change Real
What You Can Do to Stop AIDS
Click here for the complete report.
So now you know—the State of AIDS in Black America is dire and getting worse. Moreover, over the past eight years Washington has done little to nothing about that fact. So what are you going to do about it? We’ve got some ideas. First and foremost, you’ve got to make sure you’re taking personal responsibility for ending AIDS. Get Tested. If you’re sexually active, get tested on a regular basis—and take everyone you love with you, especially anyone you’re having sex with; Challenge Stigma. It’s killing us. Don’t let shame surrounding HIV—or sex, or drugs, or gay and bisexual relationships—cripple you or your community. Challenge it every time you encounter it, because silence still equals death. Be Active Locally. Find out where you can volunteer to help organizations that are combating HIV in your community. Contact one of the national organizations discussed in this report to find out if they have a local chapter. One great way to get involved locally is to join the Black AIDS Institute’s Test 1 Million campaign. Launched on National HIV Testing Day 2008, the campaign aims to get one million Black Americans to learn their HIV status over the next two years—by National HIV Testing Day 2010, on June 27 of that year. Individuals interested in joining the campaign are asked to get tested for HIV/AIDS in order to become an official Test 1 Million member. Organizations interested in joining the campaign as affiliates commit to testing individuals in their community and hosting HIV/AIDS community events. Tell Washington to Make a Plan Once you’ve taken responsibility for yourself and your loved ones, then you’ve got to speak up and demand federal policy makers take responsibility, too. The new Obama administration and Congress present a unique opportunity for our community’s fight against AIDS. But we must engage and support them to ensure their promises and potential lead to real changes. The first thing you can do is join the Call to Action for a National AIDS Strategy. As explained in the State of Treatment chapter of this report, President Obama has vowed to draft America’s first comprehensive game plan for ending the epidemic. Now we must support him in making that pledge—and urge swift action to fulfill it. Below is the text of an email you can send to the White House doing just that. Drag your mouse over the text of the letter and copy it. Then click here to go to the White House’s Office of Public Liaison, where you can paste the letter into an email for the administration. Finally, forward this page and the State of AIDS report to everyone you know. Together, let’s take advantage of this unique moment in history and finally get to work ending AIDS. Dear President Obama, I write to congratulate you on your new administration. As someone who cares about the devastating impact HIV/AIDS has had on the Black community, I know that your administration offers enormous promise for a new day in our nation’s long struggle against this epidemic. I’m especially encouraged by your promise to develop and implement a national AIDS strategy during your first year in office. More than 27 years into the epidemic, America has never had a comprehensive strategy to direct its response to AIDS. That’s a simple, essential step that we require of any country seeking our foreign assistance, and it’s long overdue. Thank you for your commitment to making it happen. More than 350 organizations and thousands of individuals have already signed a Call to Action for a National AIDS Strategy. I join those voices in urging your administration to begin work on drafting the strategy within its first 100 days. We urge that, in developing the strategy, you adhere to the principles articulated in the Call to Action, which are available at NationalAIDSStrategy.org. Your administration faces many grave challenges. But as articulated in a recent report—Making Change Real: The State of AIDS in Black America, 2009, available at www.BlackAIDS.org—HIV/AIDS presents yet another long-neglected problem that we cannot afford to put off addressing. Every year of delay means another 56,000 new infections, half of them among Black Americans. Thank you for your continued commitment and leadership in the movement to build a healthy Black America. I look forward to joining you as, together, we end this epidemic!