AIDS United

AIDS United Awards $160K to HIV/AIDS Organizations in Puerto Rico for HIV Prevention

(WASHINGTON, D.C. --  February 16, 2012) – Upholding its commitment to ending the HIV/AIDS epidemic in the United States – including the highly impacted Puerto Rico -- AIDS United has awarded $160K in grants to nine Puerto Rican HIV/AIDS organizations to help prevent the spread of the disease in  the disproportionately affected U.S. territory.  The grants will support efforts to boost the capacity of community-based organizations and collaboratives to provide vital HIV/AIDS prevention services, such as risk reduction counseling and group programs, HIV testing and counseling, peer-based outreach and education, syringe exchange and community-level interventions to reduce stigma. Read more

PrEP, African-Americans, and the Future of Prevention

African-Americans remain the population most disproportionately impacted by HIV in the United States . Comprising only 14% of the population in 2009, they accounted for 44% of HIV infections that year. Of the 1.1 million people living with HIV in the United States, 545,000 are African-American. In addition, new HIV infections among young African-American men who have sex with me (MSM) increased by 48% from 2006–2009. This suggests the urgency and critical place we find ourselves in as we grapple with the HIV epidemic in African-American communities that are facing the most severe burden of the epidemic.  HIV in the United States will not be eradicated until it’s confronted head on in the African-American community.  Read the full blog posting by AIDS United Southern Regional Organizer Charles Stephens.

The Time Is Now

By Ronald Johnson, Vice President of Policy and Advocacy

We are less than two weeks into 2012, and it is already shaping up to be a pivotal one for HIV/AIDS. The end of 2011 saw the scientific advances that gave us a real vision for an AIDS-free generation, but also saw the deplorable reinstatement of the ban on the use of federal funds for syringe exchange programs. The International AIDS Conference will be in Washington D.C. in July, smack dab in the middle of the Presidential election season.

      We are in for a bumpy ride, and AIDS United fully intends to take a leadership role in steering the course of that ride. And part of steering that course will be to maximize our core strengths of national advocacy, regional organizing and strategic grantmaking to ensure sound HIV/AIDS policy that helps people living with and affected by HIV/AIDS in the United States access the life-saving prevention, care and treatment services that they need and deserve.  Click here to read the full POZ Blogs posting of AIDS United's 2012 Public Policy and Advocacy Priorities

Reinstatement of Ban on Federal Funding for Syringe Exchange Shameful, says AIDS United

AIDS United is outraged and disappointed at Congress’ reinstatement of the ban on federal funding for syringe exchange programs, which was lifted in 2009. The ban is included in the Labor Health and Human Services appropriations bill included in the final FY 2012 appropriations package. 

“Congress’s shameful act of reinstating the ban on federal funding for syringe exchange programs is a step backward in our fight to end the HIV epidemic in this country,” said Mark Ishaug, AIDS United President and CEO.  “How are we to create an AIDS-free generation if we can’t use one of the most important tools in our toolbox?”  Read more

CEO’s World AIDS Day Blog Post: “...We Have the Technology…”

“We can re-build him. We have the technology.” Remember that classic opening line for the show “The Six Million Dollar Man” from the 1970′s?” Well a version of that line is what has been going through my head as we observe this year’s World AIDS Day.

“We can end AIDS. We have the technology.”

In other words, we are coming out of 2011 with a pretty clear prescription of what we need to do to end the HIV/AIDS epidemic in the United States and around the world. Thomas Frieden of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says that AIDS is a winnable battle. Anthony Fauci of the National Institutes of Health said major investments now can end this epidemic. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton has proclaimed that creating an AIDS-free generation in our lifetime is actually within the realm of the possible. Read AIDS United President & CEO Mark Ishaug's full blog post.

AIDS United Joins Coalition to Establish July 2012 as National HIV Awareness Month

Leaders of National HIV/AIDS Organizations Issue Call to Increase Awareness of U.S. HIV Epidemic

Washington, DC. November 30 – AIDS United Is observing World AIDS Day 2011 by announcing its participation in the Coalition for National HIV Awareness Day, a group of national HIV/AIDS organizations that is establishing July 2012 as National HIV Awareness Month.  The goal of National HIV Awareness Month is to engage civil society and the private sector in the United States to create broad-scale public awareness of HIV/AIDS, end HIV stigma and discrimination and engage new stakeholders in the fight against the disease, with the ultimate goal of ending the epidemic. Read more.