Coalition calls on Presidential candidates to develop national HIV/AIDS strategy

A coalition of more than 30 HIV/AIDS advocacy groups representing minority communities in the U.S. has called on presidential candidates Sens. John McCain (R-Ariz.) and Barack Obama (D-Ill.) to develop a comprehensive national strategy to fight HIV/AIDS, VOA News reports.

Ravinia Hayes-Cozier, director of government relations and public policy for the National Minority AIDS Council, said it is important for the next U.S. president to address HIV/AIDS in the country because "there has been silence on the domestic side about HIV/AIDS." She added that is "important" that people living in the U.S. "still see [HIV/AIDS] as an epidemic that is affecting people in this country, particularly minorities," and that the number of minorities living with HIV/AIDS in the U.S. "continue[s] to go up." Minorities account for about 65% of the estimated 56,000 new HIV infections annually in the U.S., according to VOA News.

The U.S. is "one of the very few countries" that does not have a national HIV/AIDS strategy, Hayes-Cozier said, adding that the U.S. is "at a point where we've had a great deal of experience with HIV/AIDS." She added that there are "some things that we know work well. There are some things we need to modify and change, and there are some things we just shouldn't be a part of."

According to Hayes-Cozier, a national strategy should include several elements aimed at fighting HIV/AIDS, starting with HIV prevention. The strategy's prevention component would "give consistent messages across the country that everyone supports," she said, adding that the plan would "provide a way of ongoing communication around HIV/AIDS" through education, health care and media. In addition, the plan would ensure "unified" HIV counseling and testing that provides "clear outcomes and expectations" that are not "just based on individual communities or states or cities," Hayes-Cozier said.

The treatment component of the plan would outline "strong protocols in how we implement care and treatment for those who are impacted by HIV/AIDS," according to Hayes-Cozier. The treatment component also would allow the community to look at HIV/AIDS from "a chronic disease perspective," develop "clear [treatment] guidelines" and increase efforts to reduce the spread of HIV/AIDS in communities most affected by the disease, according to Hayes-Cozier (DeCapua, VOA News, 8/26).