Welcome to AIDS2008.com, a community resource for the
2008 International AIDS Conference
sponsored by
Community HIV/AIDS Mobilization Project (CHAMP)
Beginning July 21, AIDS2008.com will be the home for community bloggers and journalists reporting from and about the International AIDS Conference in Mexico. Until then, be sure to check back here for global action alerts (see below).
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If you are looking for the official 2008 International AIDS Conference website, click here.
TAKE ACTION - People with HIV and their allies in the United States call for global support to hold the U.S. government accountable for sound national and international AIDS policies:
The United States requires other governments to develop a national strategy in order to receive U.S. funds to combat the epidemic - and gives a lot of advice about what other countries should do to fight HIV/AIDS.
But the US has never had a comprehensive national AIDS strategy of its own, even though it committed to such as signatories to the United Nations General Assembly Special Session Declaration of Commitment on HIV/AIDS in 2001.
Meanwhile, the AIDS epidemic in the United States continues to worsen, especially in African-American communities and among gay men of all races, and the U.S. government promotes ineffective abstinence-only strategies worldwide.
The wealthiest nation in the world is failing its own people in responding to the AIDS epidemic at home. Consider that in the U.S.:
- Over a million people are living with HIV. In 2002, it is estimated that half of them were not in care, and that half of those in need of treatment could not consistently get the medicine they need.
- The HIV infection rate has not fallen in 15 years. In fact, soon-to-be-released incidence estimates are expected to be much higher than previously thought, likely raising it to 55,000-60,00 a year from 40,000.
- African Americans represent 13% of the population but nearly half of all new HIV infections. In 2004, HIV/AIDS was the leading cause of death among black women ages 25 - 34.
- Black gay men and other Black men who have sex with men have HIV rates as high as the hardest hit nations in Africa, with studies showing infection rates of 46% in U.S. cities.
- If our nation's capital, Washington, DC, were a country, its prevalence rate would be on par with that of half of the nations in Sub-Saharan Africa.
Meanwhile, the U.S. promotes ineffective abstinence-only programs across the country and around the world, bans funding for syringe exchange in the U.S. and discourages it worldwide, and has cut funding for U.S. HIV prevention education, research and care programs.
The unsatisfactory outcomes from the United States response to AIDS have serious human and economic costs. A study published in 2003 found that failure to meet the government's then goal of reducing HIV infections by half would lead to $18 billion in excess expenses through 2010.
The U.S. must develop what it asks of other nations it supports in combating AIDS: a national strategy to achieve improved and more equitable results.
The Community HIV/AIDS Mobilization Project (CHAMP) asks people from around the world to stand in solidarity with hundreds of U.S. groups calling out for a national AIDS strategy: Sign the call for a National AIDS Strategy in the United States