National Minority AIDS Council Building Healthier Communities

The first Annual National Black HIV/AIDS Awareness Day takes place, on February 7, in the United States. The 20th anniversary of AIDS is noted in the press in June.

 

After re-evaluating PHIPP, the CDC launches SAFE (Serostatus Approach to fighting the Epidemic), which expands existing prevention programs targeting those living with HIV.

 

The CDC launches a five year strategic plan to increase HIV testing, lower the rate of new infections, increase the number of people living with HIV in care, strengthen the capacity to monitor the epidemic nationwide and implement and evaluate effective prevention programs.

 

AIDS deaths are at their lowest, but the impact of the epidemic is felt worldwide, with over 36 million people infected with the AIDS virus and an estimated 16,000 new infections occurring each day.

 

In the United States, the number of Americans diagnosed with the disease tops 700,000. More than 420,000 had died. (The media commemorated the anniversary with a variety of news stories, including this one from ABC News: “The State of Treatment for AIDS Patients.”) The new US Secretary of State, Colin Powell reaffirmed that HIV/AIDS is a threat to national security.

 

NMAC produces, in collaboration with the Office of AIDS Research, three informational videos – HIV/AIDS and African-Americans; HIV/AIDS and Latino Americans; and HIV/AIDS and Older Americans.

 

Abroad, the World Trade Organization meeting in Doha, Qatar announces the DOHA Declaration, which allows developing countries to buy or manufacture generic medications to meet public health crises, such as HIV/AIDS. On August 23, the Chinese government acknowledges the growing scale of the AIDS epidemic within its borders for the first time.

AIDS service organizations participate in an historic session of the United Nations General Assembly on AIDS; the disease is unanimously declared a global catastrophe. There is a call to end the epidemic and for the foundation of a global fund to combat the spread of HIV through prevention, care and treatment, including the purchase of HIV medications.

 

NMAC facilitates another successful CPLS meeting, in Houston, TX and prepares for the 2001 USCA in Miami, FL. Registration was set to begin on September 12, with sessions planned to start the next day. The events of September 11, however, forced NMAC to cancel the meeting. 

 

Amazingly, 400 people still managed to attend, with some driving from as far away as Detroit, MI. One attendee explained:

In the news coverage, AIDS is mentioned due to the death of Anthony Perkins' widow,
Berry Berenson (right), on Flight 11, which crashed into the World Trade Center. She had become an AIDS activist following her husband's death.

 

Ten days after the events of 9/11, on September 21, the FDA licenses the first nucleic acid test (NAT) systems intended for screening of blood and plasma donors. On October 16, South African health officials issued a report on the devastating impact of the HIV/AIDS epidemic in their country.

 

NMAC consolidates all its training programs into eight regional trainings called: “The Challenge of HIV/AIDS: Confronting Oppression.”

 

Preparing for Positive Tomorrows is the theme of NMAC’s People of Color Living with HIV Leadership Forum.

 

In December, NMAC facilitates NATAF outside of the United States for the first time, in Vancouver, Canada.

 

17,726 people in the US die of AIDS, a slight rise from the year before. NMAC mourns the loss of Marty Prairie, of North Carolina, known as an educator and crusader on behalf of those with HIV/AIDS in the US and around the world. The Marty Prairie Award, a public service award is established in his honor.

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