Health Care Blog
Secretary Clinton to AIDS 2012: “We Will Not Back Off, We Will Not Back Down”
Posted byon July 26, 2012 at 1:38 PM ESTI don’t think it’s an overstatement to say that Secretary Clinton electrified the AIDS 2012 audience with her keynote address at this week’s conference. Her speech was a perfect combination of substance and inspiration, and the enthusiastic reception made it clear that she had hit all the right notes.
Last November, of course, she articulated the goal, made possible by recent scientific advances, of an AIDS-free generation. This laid the groundwork for President Obama’s groundbreaking announcement on World AIDS Day of ambitious new combination prevention goals for PEPFAR, including a 50% increase in our treatment goal, to 6 million by the end of fiscal year 2013.
In her remarks this week, the Secretary updated the world on PEPFAR’s progress since then. We’ve dramatically increased the pace of treatment enrollment, reaching nearly 4.5 million with treatment through the first half of this fiscal year – putting us on track to meet the 6 million goal on time. One of the other goals was to reach 1.5 million HIV-positive pregnant women with services to prevent mother-to-child transmission of HIV – and we’re on target to achieve that as well, reaching 370,000 women in the first half of FY 2012. We’ve also performed 400,000 voluntary medical male circumcisions in that same time frame – with an accelerating pace as countries come to understand what a cost-effective, smart investment it is. Looking to the future, Secretary Clinton announced that she has asked me to produce, by World AIDS Day this year, a blueprint for the next steps in America’s contribution to an AIDS-free generation.
Learn more about Health CareHow Far We've Come on AIDS
Posted byon July 26, 2012 at 10:24 AM ESTThis week, Washington, DC is hosting the International AIDS Conference. To mark the occasion, we asked a group of White House officials to sit down and discuss the impact that HIV/AIDS has had in their own lives and how far we’ve come in the fight against the terrible disease.
Gayle Smith, Special Assistant to the President and Senior Director for Development and Democracy for the National Security Staff, described how she first heard about the disease and how the progress we've made in combating the illness has been built on a foundation of science, collaboration, and human dignity.
Watch a video on how far we've come on AIDS.
See additional accounts and testimonials videos from other Obama Administration officials:
- Valerie Jarrett, Senior Advisor to the President
- John Berry, Director of the U.S. Office of Personnel Management
- Grant Colfax, Director of the Office of National AIDS Policy
- Brad Kiley, Director of the Office of Management and Administration
- Cecilia Muñoz, Director of the White House Domestic Policy Council
- Gayle Smith: Special Assistant to the President and Senior Director for Development and Democracy for the National Security Staff
- Tina Tchen, Chief of Staff to the First Lady
Learn more
- President Obama welcomes 2012 International AIDS Conference attendees
- The AIDS Memorial Quilt in the White House
Learn more about Health CareCBO Confirms: The Health Care Law Reduces the Deficit
Posted byon July 24, 2012 at 4:39 PM ESTThis afternoon, the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) released its latest look at the Affordable Care Act – the health care law. This report affirms that repealing the health care law would deny tax credits for millions of middle class families and result in higher deficits and fewer Americans with insurance.
Once again, the Congressional Budget Office has found that repealing the health care law will increase the federal budget deficit by more than $100 billion in the first decade and more than a trillion dollars in the next decade. CBO also found that 30 million Americans would remain uninsured without the Affordable Care Act.
And CBO projects that most Governors will choose to expand their Medicaid programs. The Medicaid expansion is completely paid for by the Federal government in the first three years, and the Federal government will cover at least 90 percent of these costs in the years ahead. According to CBO “…states and local governments will probably realize savings in existing programs that provide direct care to people who are uninsured or that cover uncompensated costs incurred by providers serving uninsured residents.” Other independent analysts have also found that states that fully implement the Affordable Care Act could save money through reductions in the amount they spend to care for the uninsured.
We hope states will take advantage of the options in the health care law to improve access to affordable coverage. And history suggests that they will act. All but two states implemented Medicaid and the Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP) within five years of enactment – despite less generous financial support than the Affordable Care Act provided for this Medicaid expansion.
As the President has said, this law is here to stay, and we will continue our efforts to work with States to deliver the benefits of the law to the American people.
Nancy-Ann DeParle is the Assistant to the President and Deputy Chief of StaffLearn more about Health CareHow Far We've Come: Gayle Smith on AIDS
Posted byon July 24, 2012 at 12:30 PM ESTThis week, the International AIDS Conference is being held in in Washington, D.C. The Conference provides an opportunity for Administration officials to reflect on the effect that HIV/AIDS has had in their own lives, and how far we’ve come in the fight against the terrible disease. In the below video, Gayle Smith, Special Assistant to the President and Senior Director for Development and Democracy for the National Security Staff, shares how HIV/AIDS has personally impacted her life:
Learn more about Health CareLifting Up All Women
Posted byon July 24, 2012 at 12:28 PM ESTEd. note: This first appeared in The Huffington Post
This week, the United States is hosting the 19th International AIDS Conference. As we welcome 22,000 leaders, advocates and experts from around the world with the goal of ending HIV/AIDS, I thought it was important not to forget those living with HIV/AIDS here in our home town. Among the 1.1 million people living with HIV/AIDS in the United States, African Americans make up almost half of all cases, despite representing only 14% of the U.S. population. Women comprise 23% of new HIV infections in this country, and African American women make up nearly two-thirds of these cases. Here in D.C., we have one of the highest HIV rates in the country, with 2.7% of all D.C. residents living with HIV/AIDS, and women comprise 28% of the cases. Of the 4,000 women living with HIV in D.C., 92% are African American. Compared with men in D.C., women living with HIV are still more likely to be tested later in the course of their disease, and are less likely to be linked to care.
On Saturday, R&B legend Alicia Keys and I joined the Kaiser Family Foundation and the National Black Women's HIV/AIDS Network for an inspirational meeting with a community gathering of courageous black women living with HIV/AIDS. Our goal was to lift their stories up to provide insight and guidance for our efforts to end HIV/AIDS here at home.
For so many of us, our commitment to fighting AIDS comes from the heart. Every day, I carry with me the pain of watching the excruciating death of my sister-in-law, Julie, eighteen years ago. Julie went for months without being properly diagnosed because it simply never occurred to her doctor to check for HIV. By the time she was diagnosed, it was too late. Julie left behind a devastated husband and a five-year-old daughter, Tracy. Tracy, who is now all grown up, accompanied me on Saturday.
Learn more about Health Care, WomenHow Far We've Come: Valerie Jarrett on AIDS
Posted byon July 23, 2012 at 11:31 AM ESTThis week, the International AIDS Conference is being held in in Washington, D.C. The Conference provides an opportunity for Administration officials to reflect on the effect that HIV/AIDS has had in their own lives, and how far we’ve come in the fight against the terrible disease. In the below video, Valerie Jarrett, Senior Advisor to the President, shares how HIV/AIDS has personally impacted her life.
Learn more about Health Care
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