HIV/AIDS leaders press Congress for national AIDS strategy

HIV/AIDS advocates convened in Washington, D.C., on May 20 to hold a congressional hearing at the Rayburn Building to outline their call for the federal government to develop a national strategy to end the epidemic. Rebecca Haag, who is executive director both of the D.C.-based AIDS Action and Massachusetts' AIDS Action Committee (AAC), moderated the panel that spoke at the hearing, and she told Bay Windows Congress has a crucial role to play in developing and implementing such a strategy.

"We believe this is a bipartisan issue, and it's one that should be owned by the federal government. Clearly Congress are the appropriators and would have to be involved in [developing the plan]," said Haag. AIDS Action and other proponents of a national AIDS strategy have previously called on President Bush to implement such a strategy, and they have also called on the current presidential candidates to outline a strategy.

Haag said that this is the first time HIV/AIDS advocates have held a congressional briefing since the Open Society Institute issued a report last year calling for a national AIDS strategy that included a timetable with benchmarks to measure progress. She said AIDS Action and other advocates had already been talking to members of Congress about their call for a national AIDS strategy, and she said 30 congressional offices were present at the meeting. Rep. Maxine Waters (C-CA), one of the hearing's co-sponsors, also addressed the hearing. The panel included Phill Wilson, executive director of the Black AIDS Institute, Marjorie Hill, CEO of Gay Men's Health Crisis, and Johns Hopkins researcher David Holtgrave, among others.