President releases National HIV/AIDS Strategy

On July 13, 2010, President Barack Obama released his National HIV/AIDS Strategy. In conjunction with the release of the strategy, President Obama mandated that the various Executive Branch departments involved in implementing the strategy report to him within 150 days — by Dec. 9, 2010.

For a complete text of the National HIV/AIDS Strategy (NHAS), as well as the implementation plan and memo to executive agencies, click here.

NBLCA leads African-American response

In response, C. Virginia Fields, President and CEO of the National Black Leadership Commission on AIDS, issued a “call to action” (click here to see full text) and organized a series of town hall meetings around the country along with NBLCA affiliates, more than 25 national organizations and other key community stakeholders. The town hall meetings resulted in the African-American Response to the National HIV/AIDS Strategy Federal Implementation Plan. (To see the response, click here.)

The document’s recommendations highlight the need for the federal government to implement policies and redirect resources to specifically address the unmet HIV/AIDS prevention, treatment and care needs of Black communities. Follow-up meetings will be scheduled with the White House Office of National AIDS Policy, Office of the Secretary of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, and other departments with responsibility for implementation of the NHAS.

Other leadership

For more information on NBLCA’s leadership around the National HIV/AIDS Strategy, click on the following links:

* Recommendations of Rev. Dr. Calvin O. Butts III, chairman of NBLCA’s Board of Directors and member of the President’s Advisory Council on HIV/AIDS. (Click here.)

* Recommendations resulting from “A National Conversation on Black Women and HIV/AIDS” forum Nov. 10, 2009. (Click here.)