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May 12, 2008
Community Leaders Call for HIV Prevention Funding Boost
In a West Oakland, California, forum hosted by U.S. Representative Barbara Lee on May 9, health and federal officials met with African-American community leaders to discuss the disproportionate impact of HIV/AIDS on black Americans, the San Francisco Chroniclereports (sfgate.com, 5/10).
According to the Chronicle, African Americans made up 61 percent of new HIV infections among young people between 2001 and 2005; 48 percent of HIV infections among black men were linked to sex with other men. In addition, African-American women in the U.S. are being infected at 20 times the rate of white women, the article says. Despite these statistics, prevention funding is dwindling. The Chronicle reports that the Bush administration is proposing a $1 million reduction in HIV prevention and surveillance in the coming fiscal year.
“The pie is only so big right now,” said U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention director Dr. Julie Gerberding. “What we need is a bigger pie.”
At the forum, Gerberding noted that while she had requested $7.2 billion in CDC funding, the budget was cut to $5.9 billion in 2007.
