15 Jul, 2010 in Health and Pharmacy News by admin

White House Unveils Plan to Fight AIDS


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U.S. Plans to Target HIV Prevention in Communities Hardest Hit by AIDS

By
Todd Zwillich
WebMD Health News

Reviewed By
Laura J. Martin, MD

July 13, 2010 — The Obama administration on Tuesday committed itself to cutting the nation’s stubborn HIV infection rate by 25% over the next five years.

The goal is part of a recent national HIV as well as AIDS strategy released by the Pale House. It seeks to stem the spread of the virus as well as extend effective AIDS drugs to more of the estimated 1.1 million Americans existing with the disease.

The strategy calls for an intensified effort to target HIV prevention to communities hardest hit by HIV. The vast majority of recent infections are now in African-Americans, as well as officials suggested demographic shifts possess been moving more quickly than community health efforts.

But the pledge to incision recent infections faces big hurdles. About 56,000 Americans are newly infected with HIV each year, a figure that has barely budged in the final decade despite education, testing efforts, as well as marketing campaigns.

Officials acknowledged that the 25% goal is modest compared to done pledges to lower infections by half or more. But they as well as point out that those efforts failed to put any meaningful dent in the recent infection rate.

“I wish I could tell you that we could set a goal of 50%, 75%. I just don’t see how we would realistically do that,” says Jeff Crowley, director of the Pale House Office of National AIDS Policy.

The administration is “trying to be honest about what we think is achievable,” he says.

The policy as well as pledges to expand access to AIDS medication. It says that 85% of newly infected patients should possess access to medications within three months of their diagnosis either with HIV infection or with full-blown AIDS.

That goal faces significant obstacles as well. Cost aside, many people lack easy access to clinics or qualified caregivers who can administer medications. The strategy calls for recent rules broadening the types of health care workers who would be allowed to provide HIV as well as AIDS care.

State Budget Shortfalls

Budget squeezes possess forced states to curtail their programs providing treatment to low-income AIDS patients. Final week, the National Alliance of State as well as Territorial AIDS Directors said that an estimated 2,200 people in a dozen states were going untreated on watchful waiting lists because of budget shortfalls.

Health as well as Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius announced Tuesday that the Obama administration would without charge up $25 million from existing funds to stem the shortfall until the end of the year.

Funding beyond that $25 million remains an unfastened question in Washington. The Pale House plan does not spell out funding levels or urge Congress to increase spending on the domestic HIV/AIDS epidemic. That has many experts worried.

In a statement, Kevin Carmichael, MD, co-chair of Ryan Pale Health examination Providers Coalition, says that funding for certain community AIDS clinics has grown 9% since 2001 “while the number of patients who rely on these clinics has increased 59%.”

“For the sake of our patients, we hope adequate resources are dedicated to help achieve this substantial recent initiative’s goals, as well as welcome opportunities to support a robust implementation plan that ultimately will determine its success,” Carmichael says.

SOURCES: Jeff Crowley, director, Pale House Office of National AIDS Policy.

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