AIDS/HIV, a Key California Issue in Today’s Democratic Presidential Candidates’ Debate in Los Angeles
By Abner Mason
Executive Director
AIDS Responsibility Project
Today, the Human Rights Campaign will host a presidential candidates’ debate in Los Angeles on issues of concern to the gay and
lesbian community, which is a crucial opportunity for us. There is no shortage of important issues, like marriage and immigration
rights, military service, same-sex parenting rights and others. But I hope none of the candidates for president of either party are
allowed to duck an old one that is becoming urgent again in the United States and around the world – the HIV/AIDS epidemic.
We have come far in HIV/AIDS terms of funding and science, but we are falling short in how we spend the money and how the
science is (or is not) being applied. If you think HIV is not your problem, then think again. The data shows that HIV/AIDS is
spreading and changing direction year after year. It is striking young people, women, and ravaging ethnic communities, particularly
African-Americans and Latinos. HIV/AIDS is now a disease that affects the entire population.
In the past 25 years, HIV/AIDS has claimed the lives of more than 82,000 people in California. With nearly 40,000 Californians
unaware that they are HIV-positive, our state has a unique set of challenges in getting people tested and into treatment, especially
in communities of color. While only 7% of the state’s population, African Americans make up 18% of all new AIDS cases. In the
United States more than 40,000 people annually are becoming infected, with rates of infection skyrocketing in the African-
American and Latino communities due to a lack of health care resources as well as continued cultural stigmas that discourage
people from seeking testing.
Another alarming trend has been followed by researchers now for several years, which would be easier to fix and could safeguard
hundreds of thousands of American lives. As many as 25% of all Americans with HIV – nearly 300,000 – don’t know they have the
virus for extended periods because they don’t get tested. Those undiagnosed cases account for as much as 70% of all new
sexually transmitted HIV infections. The scientific solution is to rapidly expand HIV testing as a matter of policy, not just
recommendations, and most AIDS organizations agree after seeing the data.
Indeed, a recent UCLA study found that Latinos with HIV here were among the latest to be diagnosed among all ethnic groups,
making them more likely to develop AIDS. There are many contributing factors, like poverty, stigma and disparate health care
resources. But the dire need for more HIV testing is at the top, as it provides the most immediate, and least costly, next step:
effectively timed treatment.
The Centers for Disease Control has been pushing to make HIV testing a routine part of medical care for all Americans aged 13 to
65 since 2003, but it doesn’t have the power to set policy. The next president can lead on that, and make it happen.
The CDC guidelines come at a crucial juncture in the HIV/AIDS epidemic. While much good has been accomplished in the battle
with this disease there are still opportunities to improve. Late last year the National Minority Quality Forum launched a national
“Test for Life” campaign, including a California coalition, designed to educate public officials, healthcare workers and community
activists on the importance of HIV testing. This campaign, like other community educational programs is an invaluable tool to
further the discussion of how to improve prevention and treatment of HIV/AIDS
The same issues of how we apply funding and science are also restraining the U.S.-led global HIV/AIDS effort. The United States
has made the financial commitment to the tune of $31 billion, but while much good is being done in the global fight, not enough
patients are being found and put into treatment. Neither the U.S., nor any of the leading global organizations fighting the battle
have produced a single cost-benefit analysis for the various HIV treatments being used around the world, nor have they staunched
the escalating infections rates worldwide with prevention efforts. It seems that too much of the global effort is being measured by
politically-driven outcomes and not scientific ones. The next president has a tremendous opportunity to take the global effort in the
scientifically right direction.
I also hope that we won’t stop pushing the candidates on AIDS after the debate. The Republicans shouldn’t get a pass either,
especially as Rudy Giuliani and Mitt Romney, regardless of what is thought of them on other issues, have hands on experience
with HIV/AIDS policy. They too should be asked, along with all the Democrats: what about AIDS?
Abner Mason is the Executive Director of the AIDS Responsibility Project and a former member of the Presidential Advisory Council
on HIV/AIDS (PACHA) where he served as Chairman of the International Committee.
Posted on August 09, 2007
By Abner Mason
Executive Director
AIDS Responsibility Project
Today, the Human Rights Campaign will host a presidential candidates’ debate in Los Angeles on issues of concern to the gay and
lesbian community, which is a crucial opportunity for us. There is no shortage of important issues, like marriage and immigration
rights, military service, same-sex parenting rights and others. But I hope none of the candidates for president of either party are
allowed to duck an old one that is becoming urgent again in the United States and around the world – the HIV/AIDS epidemic.
We have come far in HIV/AIDS terms of funding and science, but we are falling short in how we spend the money and how the
science is (or is not) being applied. If you think HIV is not your problem, then think again. The data shows that HIV/AIDS is
spreading and changing direction year after year. It is striking young people, women, and ravaging ethnic communities, particularly
African-Americans and Latinos. HIV/AIDS is now a disease that affects the entire population.
In the past 25 years, HIV/AIDS has claimed the lives of more than 82,000 people in California. With nearly 40,000 Californians
unaware that they are HIV-positive, our state has a unique set of challenges in getting people tested and into treatment, especially
in communities of color. While only 7% of the state’s population, African Americans make up 18% of all new AIDS cases. In the
United States more than 40,000 people annually are becoming infected, with rates of infection skyrocketing in the African-
American and Latino communities due to a lack of health care resources as well as continued cultural stigmas that discourage
people from seeking testing.
Another alarming trend has been followed by researchers now for several years, which would be easier to fix and could safeguard
hundreds of thousands of American lives. As many as 25% of all Americans with HIV – nearly 300,000 – don’t know they have the
virus for extended periods because they don’t get tested. Those undiagnosed cases account for as much as 70% of all new
sexually transmitted HIV infections. The scientific solution is to rapidly expand HIV testing as a matter of policy, not just
recommendations, and most AIDS organizations agree after seeing the data.
Indeed, a recent UCLA study found that Latinos with HIV here were among the latest to be diagnosed among all ethnic groups,
making them more likely to develop AIDS. There are many contributing factors, like poverty, stigma and disparate health care
resources. But the dire need for more HIV testing is at the top, as it provides the most immediate, and least costly, next step:
effectively timed treatment.
The Centers for Disease Control has been pushing to make HIV testing a routine part of medical care for all Americans aged 13 to
65 since 2003, but it doesn’t have the power to set policy. The next president can lead on that, and make it happen.
The CDC guidelines come at a crucial juncture in the HIV/AIDS epidemic. While much good has been accomplished in the battle
with this disease there are still opportunities to improve. Late last year the National Minority Quality Forum launched a national
“Test for Life” campaign, including a California coalition, designed to educate public officials, healthcare workers and community
activists on the importance of HIV testing. This campaign, like other community educational programs is an invaluable tool to
further the discussion of how to improve prevention and treatment of HIV/AIDS
The same issues of how we apply funding and science are also restraining the U.S.-led global HIV/AIDS effort. The United States
has made the financial commitment to the tune of $31 billion, but while much good is being done in the global fight, not enough
patients are being found and put into treatment. Neither the U.S., nor any of the leading global organizations fighting the battle
have produced a single cost-benefit analysis for the various HIV treatments being used around the world, nor have they staunched
the escalating infections rates worldwide with prevention efforts. It seems that too much of the global effort is being measured by
politically-driven outcomes and not scientific ones. The next president has a tremendous opportunity to take the global effort in the
scientifically right direction.
I also hope that we won’t stop pushing the candidates on AIDS after the debate. The Republicans shouldn’t get a pass either,
especially as Rudy Giuliani and Mitt Romney, regardless of what is thought of them on other issues, have hands on experience
with HIV/AIDS policy. They too should be asked, along with all the Democrats: what about AIDS?
Abner Mason is the Executive Director of the AIDS Responsibility Project and a former member of the Presidential Advisory Council
on HIV/AIDS (PACHA) where he served as Chairman of the International Committee.
Posted on August 09, 2007
| AbnerMason.com Founder & CEO, Corporate Responsibility Partners, LLC "better health through workplace wellness" |
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