The National
Minority AIDS Council (NMAC) congratulates President-elect Barack Obama on his historic
victory in the 2008 U.S. presidential election and thanks
everyone who exercised their right to vote yesterday.
“President-Elect Barack Obama's win is a truly historic occasion,”
says Paul Kawata, Executive Director of NMAC. “As Corretta Scott King said to
me, AIDS is a civil rights issue. The disproportionate impact of HIV in
communities of color involves more than just transmission, but is a snapshot of
the socio-economic-health disparities that are a reality among minorities in
this country. Obama's election was a statement by the American people that we
can no longer afford this status quo in any way.”
A
recently-released report from the U.S. Center for Disease Control and Prevention
(CDC) on estimates of new HIV infections in the United States
amplifies the crises faced in communities of color. According to the CDC’s
alarming new estimates, communities of color account for a combined total of 65%
of the approximately 56,300 new HIV infections occurring in the
United
States. By the CDC’s own admission, this new
estimate is 40% higher than the CDC’s earlier estimate of 40,000 infections per
year. The startling new HIV rates are of special concern for people of color who
are more likely to die from the disease than HIV-infected whites. AIDS advocates
representing communities of color have long expressed dissatisfaction with the
current lethargic, fragmented and unaccountable U.S. response to
the epidemic, which they point out, is a direct result of the non-existent
national plan.
Recognizing the severity of the epidemic and the disproportionate
impact it is having in communities of color across the country, President-elect
Barack Obama sent a letter expressing his support for those working on the
frontlines of the HIV/AIDS epidemic, to the 2008 United States Conference on
AIDS, held
this past September 18-21, in Fort
Lauderdale, FL.
Please click here
to read his letter.
In a similarly
historic event, over 30 national HIV/AIDS organizations and leaders representing
African-American, Latino, Native American/Alaska Native, and Asian & Pacific
Islander communities have joined forces in an urgent call for the development
and implementation of a comprehensive national AIDS strategy. The 2008
Partnership Paper, Fighting HIV/AIDS in Communities of
Color: An Action Plan for the Next President, outlines the proposed priorities that
should be taken into consideration by the next president in addressing HIV/AIDS
in their administration.
“The election
of Barack Obama is a multi-dimensional response to many civil rights issues,
such as healthcare, poverty, and education,” says Ravinia Hayes-Cozier, NMAC’s
Director of Government Relations and Public Policy. “The country has adopted a
philosophy of change and NMAC supports a call to action to ensure these changes
become reality."
“We
congratulate President-Elect Barack Obama, his family and the new
administration, and look forward to working together to strengthen the HIV/AIDS
response nationally.”
###
|
