[News/Health] [USA] XIX International AIDS Conference: The Beginning of the End?

[Stephanie Stevens]

National Center For Transgender Equality (NCTE), DC, USA


XIX International AIDS Conference: The Beginning of the End?

July 24, 2012

Posted by transgenderequality


Sunday marked the start of the International AIDS Conference: Turning
the Tide Together <http://aids2012.org/> , being held in the United
States for the first time since 1990. This conference allows
professionals working in the field of HIV, individuals who are living
with HIV, and advocates to come together, share new research from the
field and strategize a plan to end the AIDS pandemic. The historic
return of the conference to the US was made possible by the
elimination in 2009 of the notorious ban on people with HIV traveling
to the US.

Findings in the National Transgender Discrimination Survey
<http://www.thetaskforce.org/downloads/reports/reports/ntds_full.pdf>
show alarmingly high rates of HIV in trans people with rates
skyrocketing trans people of color:

• Respondents reported over four times the national average of HIV
infection with 2.46% compared to 0.6%.
• 24.90% of African-American participants reported being HIV
positive compared with national rate of 2.4% African Americans
• 10.92% of Latino/a participants reported being HIV positive
compared with national rate of .08% Latino/as.

Transgender advocates from around the nation and the world are sharing
strategies, research, and stories at the conference. If you are in the
Washington, DC area, you can hear and network from these activists and
many others in the conference’s Global Village
<http://www.aids2012.org/Default.aspx?pageId=429> , which is free and
open to the public.

This month, NCTE celebrated the U.S. Department of Health and Human
Services announcement
<http://www.hhs.gov/news/press/2012pres/07/20120719b.html> allocating
$80 million dollars in new grant funding toward eliminating the wait
list for the AIDS Drug Assistance Program (ADAP). This is an important
step, but much more needs to be done within the US and
internationally. Recommendations in NCTE’s Blueprint for Equality
include:

• Congress should fully fund implementation of the National
HIV/AIDS Strategy.
• Congress should fully fund comprehensive sexuality education and
defund ineffective and dangerous abstinence-only-until-marriage
programs.
• The CDC and the Department of Justice should develop and
implement comprehensive HIV preven­tion strategies for correctional
facilities, including those overseen by the Federal Bureau of Prisons.
• The President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR) should
issue guidance for international HIV prevention efforts targeted at
transgender people.
• PEPFAR should require all PEPFAR-funded pro­grams to certify
that they do not promote anti-LGBT messages or discriminate against
LGBT people.

This conference is an urgently needed convening to refocus resources
and attention toward trans people living with HIV or AIDS. For more
information on best practices for transgender HIV prevention, visit
the Center of Excellence for Transgender Health
<http://transhealth.ucsf.edu/trans?page=lib-topic-hiv-prevention> .


http://transgenderequality.wordpress.com/2012/07/24/xix-international-aids-conference-the-beginning-of-the-end/