The McCain/Palin Vision for Sex Education is both Dangerous and Discredited
Political commentators are lining up to chime in on news that Republican vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin’s teenage daughter is pregnant. But an important reality is quickly getting lost in the din of political punditry: Too many young women like 17-year-old Bristol Palin are forced to make choices about their sex lives without access to honest, accurate, comprehensive information. And both Gov. Palin and Senator McCain support policies that will further limit access to that information.
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Phill's Blog: Thursday, Aug. 28
PRESIDENT CLINTON SPEAKS AT THE DEMOCRATIC NATIONAL CONVENTION
Former President Bill Clinton repeated at last night's Democratic National Convention a message he first delivered to the AIDS community earlier this month: It's time for America to recommit itself to the struggle against HIV/AIDS at home. Clinton's forceful, urgent statement at a convention otherwise void of any substantive discussion about HIV/AIDS—showed just the sort of national political leadership we need today, and must now be followed up with action from his party's new leaders.
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Phill's Blog: Tuesday, Aug. 26
THE WORLD AS IT IS, THE WORLD AS IT SHOULD BE
My first event of the week was a luncheon sponsored by the Global AIDS alliance with Danny Glover, David Munar, Marjorie Hill, Sandra Thurman, and Barbara Lee. Danny Glover opened the event by saying, "The theme of this week and this election season is change. But in order to really bring about change, we have to understand where we are. We have to understand what it is we want to change from and what it is we want to change to."
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Democrats Must Make AIDS in Black America a Priority
The Democratic Party today begins a week in which it will rewrite American political history by formally nominating Barack Obama as its presidential candidate. That will be a tremendous political accomplishment, for Obama and for America. But to many observers, this year's Democratic National Convention represents something larger: proof that America is finally on the road toward a more perfect union where all of its people really matter.
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2008 AIDS International News Conference
Reception Honors Congresswoman Barbara Lee
MEXICO CITY -- The Black AIDS Institute hosted a reception honoring Congresswoman Barbara Lee on Wednesday night at the Marquis Reforma, The Ballroom in Mexico City. Lee was honored for her consistent and pro-active service on HIV/AIDS legislation in America
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2008 International AIDS Conference
When it Comes to Churches, Pernessa Seele is the Balm
MEXICO CITY -- Perneesa C. Seele, founder and CEO of Balm in Gilead, which takes its name from Jeremiah 8:22. The Old Testament verse reads: “Is there no balm in Gilead; is there no physician there? Why then is not the health of the daughter of my people recovered?” Seele has become the modern-day answer to that question, helping improve the health status of people in the African Disapora, especially around the issue of HIV/AIDS.
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2008 International AIDS Conference
Black Children Provide Some Good News in AIDS War
MEXICO CITY -- There is finally some good news on the AIDS front. “In the 1980’s, 1,500 infants were born with HIV,” said Kevin Fenton, Director of the CDC’s National Center for HIV/AIDS, Viral Hepatitis, STD and TB Prevention. “That number dropped to less than 60 for 2006. This is due to better screening, better awareness, and infants being provided with anti-viral therapy,” The decline of mother to child infections is perhaps the major success story in the fight against HIV/AIDS.
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2008 International AIDS Conference
C. Virginia Fields Uses Political Strategy to Combat HIV/AIDS Infections
Growing up in Birmingham, Ala., C. Virginia Fields marched with Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., standing up with him to fire hoses and police dogs. Later, as a social worker in New York City, she worked with prisoners and foster children.
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2008 International AIDS Conference
Sheryl Lee Ralph Creates Web Site to Encourage HIV Testing
MEXICO CITY -- Jamaican born, internationally recognized HIV/AIDS activist Sheryl Lee Ralph, has used her success as a highly talented singer and actress to make a difference in fighting the world’s deadliest disease. Even before appearing in the smash hit Broadway musical “Dream Girls” in 1982, Ralph has been committed to advocating for safe sex and for HIV/AIDS education, prevention and testing. During that year, Ralph recalls the experience that propelled her into activism.
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2008 International AIDS Conference
No Explanation Yet For Higher MSM HIV Rates
MEXICO CITY -- Gay and bisexual men account for more than half of new U.S. HIV infections and experience the highest HIV infection rate of any demographic group, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). "The data confirm what we knew before: that the epidemic was severely impacting gay men and impacting African American and Hispanic communities," said Dr. Kevin Fenton, director of the CDC's National Center for HIV/AIDS, Viral Hepatitis, STD, and TB Prevention.
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2008 International AIDS Conference
The Lady With the Dildoes Has Plenty of Sister Love
MEXICO CITY -- In and around Atlanta, Dazon Dixon Diallo has been known as “the lady with the dildoes.” That’s because her organization, SisterLove Inc., hosts graphically entertaining Healthy Love parties to teach women the basics of HIV/AIDS prevention and safer sex practices while affirming their right to control their sexual health and have a little fun, too.
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2008 International AIDS Conference
Teens Seek Ways to Reduce Rising HIV Rates
MEXICO CITY -- There is a new trend that is running wild among Black teens. It isn’t a new designer jean or an expensive cell phone rapper 50 Cent endorsed. The new trend is that HIV/AIDS is affecting youth at an alarming rate.
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2008 International AIDS Conference
Circumcision is Cutting-Edge HIV Prevention Tool
MEXICO CITY -- Multiple studies conducted by prominent authorities in the medical field conclude that male circumcision is an effective preventive tool against HIV infections, it was announced Tuesday at the International AIDS Conference in Mexico City.
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2008 International AIDS Conference
CDC’s New Life-Saving Technology
MEXICO CITY -- Because of a new ground-breaking HIV testing method, officials from the Centers for Disease Control say they believe they will finally get a gauge on how widespread the HIV virus is within the U.S., including the African-American community.
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2008 International AIDS Conference
The AIDS Struggle Has a Friend in Rep. Barbara Lee
MEXICO CITY -- The fight to end the global AIDS pandemic has found a staunch supporter in Rep. Barbara Lee (D-CA), co-author of PEPFAR, legislation that provides billions of dollars to prevent new HIV infections throughout the developing world. But her commitment to end the crisis in America is keenly targeted toward the African American community where she wants to see the problem fixed.
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2008 International AIDS Conference
One-Size-Fits all Prevention Wrong Fit for HIV/AIDS Epidemic
MEXICO CITY -- At past international AIDS conferences, a session on prevention wouldn’t have drawn enough attention to fill a large meeting room. In previous years, treatment dominated the conversation.
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2008 International AIDS Conference
Black Leaders Insist on a National AIDS Plan
MEXICO CITY -- Angered that the HIV/AIDS epidemic in the African American community has been neglected and is on the rise, while U.S government funding has been stagnant and its priorities have been global, Black leaders gathered in Mexico City called for the U.S. government to create and implement a new National AIDS strategy.
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2008 International AIDS Conference
Bill Clinton: Time to Do More at Home
MEXICO CITY -- Former President Bill Clinton, who has focused much of his private foundation activities on AIDS in Africa and the Caribbean, acknowledged Monday that much work still needs to be done in the United States and indicated his foundation will now shift some of its resources to the domestic front, especially targeted for African-Americans.
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Statistics
US HIV Rate 40% Higher Than Originally Believed
The number of people infected with HIV, the virus that causes AIDS, is 40 percent higher than the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has been reporting each year, new figures released Saturday show. According to the CDC, approximately 56,300 new HIV infections occurred in the United States in 2006. The previous estimate had been 40,000 new infections per year.
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2008 International AIDS Conference
‘Prince Charming’ Knocked Teen off her Throne
MEXICO CITY- Mexico -- Marvelyn Brown was living the dream life for a high school student nearing graduation. She was athletic, attractive, and had the popularity that every teen desires. She was the type who hung out with the prom queen, the one who actually got to date her prince charming. But her prince charming turned into a dark knight, and several months later, the world as she knew it would change forever.
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2008 International AIDS Conference
Global community converge to combat HIV/AIDS
MEXICO CITY, MEXICO -- With an empty thoroughbred race track as a backdrop, the XVII International AIDS Conference took off to the races in its ongoing global battle to combat the HIV/AIDS epidemic that is mushrooming right here on their fertile Latin soil.
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2008 International AIDS Conference
AIDS in Black America as Severe as in Africa
MEXICO CITY, MEXICO -- The United Nations released its massive, bi-annual "Report on the Global AIDS Epidemic," but you had to dig deep to find much about the HIV/AIDS crisis in America. Despite a large and growing epidemic in the United States—a crisis that disproportionately affects African-Americans--the 350-page report barely skimmed the surface of what is going on within US borders.
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U.S. LEADS GLOBAL EFFORTS AGAINST AIDS, BUT NEGLECTS THE EPIDEMIC IN BLACK AMERICA, SAYS NEW REPORT
The United States leads the global response to HIV/AIDS, but fails to mobilize the same commitment to address the large and growing epidemic within its own borders, finds a new report released today by the Black AIDS Institute. “Left Behind! Black America: A Neglected Priority in the Global AIDS Epidemic” praises the United States for it vital efforts to address HIV worldwide, but criticizes the government’s profoundly inadequate response to the epidemic within its own borders.
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AIDS 2008 International Conference
Breakfast Training Sessions
The Black AIDS Institute teaches a daily breakfast training session to help journalist understand the difficult science discussed in abstracts and lectures.
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