HIV/AIDS: President Obama Takes Big Steps to Make a Difference

HIV/AIDS is still a major problem in the United States, accounting for 14,000 deaths each year. There are 56,300 new infections annually and President Obama’s National HIV/AIDS Strategy was released on July 13, 2010 to address the domestic epidemic and to focus public attention on it.

“The National HIV/AIDS Strategy presents three primary goals to be accomplished through a more coordinated national response to the HIV epidemic: 1) reducing the number of people who become infected with HIV; 2) increasing access to care and improving health outcomes for people living with HIV; and, 3) reducing HIV-related health disparities.”

The first part of the strategy, focused on reducing the number of people who become infected, will require that prevention strategies are not single faceted, for example, using condoms as a single recommendation, but are a combination of approaches including things such as expanded HIV testing (because people who know they are positive are less likely to spread the disease), education and support to reduce risky behaviors, strategic use of medications, the development of vaccines and microbicides and expansion of mental health and substance abuse treatment and prevention programs. One overall goal of the strategy is to provide all Americans with the factual information necessary to prevent HIV infections so that we are working together with a common vision: Our country is a place where HIV/AIDS is rare and when it does occur people have access to high quality care.

The second piece of the strategy focuses on increasing access to care and improving health outcomes for those living with AIDS. It is important to provide early care for those diagnosed with AIDS, both to improve their health and to prevent them from spreading the infection to others. New research, published in the Lancet last week, shows that even in early stages, the HIV death risk rate is very high, making early intervention critical. The study, a randomized trial conducted in Haiti showed that early treatment reduced the death rate by 75% and reduced new cases of tuberculosis by half. Researchers also demonstrate in another study that the death rate is higher in intravenous drug users, suggesting that other risk factors play a strong role in death rates even among those with strong immune systems.

The third facet of the strategy is to reduce HIV-related health disparities, allowing those from all economic, educational and cultural backgrounds access to more and better community-level approaches for HIV prevention and care.

All of these aspects of the National HIV/AIDs Strategy will require many federal, state and tribal agencies to work together to achieve these goals. This strategy is good news and long overdue for our country but ultimately, the final say is in our own hands. Take the test. Take control.