HIV and AIDS in the U.S.
Photo: The Meredith Family |
While we have made great strides in the movement to eradicate HIV/AIDS, approximately 100 to 200 babies are still born with HIV each year in the United States. In addition, the number of HIV-positive women of child-bearing age continues to grow at an alarming rate.
To address the U.S. HIV/AIDS epidemic, the Foundation is taking steps to ensure that women, children, and families with HIV/AIDS in the United States receive the prevention, care, and treatment services they need to thrive.
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National HIV/AIDS Strategy
Photo: Tanya Torres |
In 2006, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported 56,300 new HIV infections in the United States. Of those people living with HIV/AIDS, 25 percent were women. The growing domestic HIV/AIDS epidemic signals an urgent need to improve HIV and AIDS prevention, care, and medical treatment services across the country in order to reduce the number of people living with HIV and AIDS.
As part of this effort, President Obama has pledged his commitment to fight HIV and AIDS in the U.S. by calling for the timely development of a comprehensive, coordinated national HIV/AIDS strategy, to serve as a framework for domestic HIV/AIDS programs.
The Foundation has joined more than 500 HIV/AIDS organizations in urging Congress and the Obama administration to develop a national HIV/AIDS strategy. We are working to ensure that voices of women, children, and families with HIV and AIDS are included in the strategy, and that prevention of mother-to-child transmission of HIV and pediatric HIV and AIDS are appropriately addressed.
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The Ryan White Care Act
Next to the Medicaid program, the Ryan White Comprehensive AIDS Resources Emergency (CARE) Act is the largest federal investment in the care and treatment of people living with HIV and AIDS in the United States. The CARE Act provides services to approximately 533,000 low-income, HIV-positive individuals.
Since the CARE Act was first enacted in 1990, the Foundation has worked to ensure that HIV/AIDS programs providing medical care, support services, case management, and outreach to women, children, and families affected by HIV and AIDS are strengthened and improved.
The Ryan White CARE program is keeping families healthier, saving money by reducing hospitalizations, and linking women and children to opportunities to participate in cutting-edge clinical research. In particular, Title IV (Part D) programs have been instrumental in reducing the number of babies born with HIV annually in the U.S. — from more than 2,000 per year two decades ago to fewer than 200 per year today.
The Ryan White CARE Act must be renewed in order to ensure continued funding for programs that provide important services to women, children, and families affected by HIV/AIDS. The Foundation is currently working with stakeholders and Congress to urge policymakers to support those most vulnerable to HIV/AIDS — including women and children — by reauthorizing and fully funding the Ryan White CARE Act.
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HIV Testing of Pregnant Women and Newborns
Photo: EGPAF |
Without medical intervention, an HIV-positive woman has about a one-in-four chance of giving birth to an HIV-positive baby. Due to HIV testing and preventative drug therapies, mother-to-child transmission of HIV in the United States has been dramatically reduced to less than two percent – but between 100 and 200 HIV-positive babies are still born in the U.S. each day.
HIV testing is a key element to ensuring that babies are born free of HIV. The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) currently recommends universal, routine, opt-out testing of pregnant women; however, these guidelines are not always implemented.
The Foundation supports more robust implementation of CDC guidelines as the most effective way of increasing HIV testing rates for pregnant women and preventing mother-to-child transmission of HIV. Testing is the first step to providing mothers with the medical care and treatment they need to protect their own health and the health of their babies.
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HIV/AIDS Community Discussions
Ben Banks (right) testifies at an HIV/AIDS community discussion. (Photo: EGPAF) |
I am considered a [HIV/AIDS] success story…But for every success story there are thousands of children, some who were my friends, that have not been so lucky. There are many children growing up with HIV and your research is urgently needed.”
– Ben Banks, Ambassador for the Elizabeth Glaser Pediatric AIDS Foundation, at an HIV/AIDS Community Discussion in Washington, D.C., 9/21/09
To combat the rising HIV/AIDS epidemic in the United States, President Obama has committed to developing a comprehensive, coordinated National HIV/AIDS Strategy to reduce HIV incidence, increase access to HIV/AIDS care, and reduce HIV-related health disparities. In the fall of 2009, the White House hosted 14 HIV/AIDS community discussions across the country to gather input from local residents, activists, and members of the community on the development of the National HIV/AIDS Strategy.
Seven Foundation Ambassadors delivered testimony and offered recommendations at HIV/AIDS community discussions in Atlanta, Georgia; San Francisco, California; Los Angeles, California; Washington, D.C.; Columbia, South Carolina; and Fort Lauderdale, Florida, to urge the Obama Administration to make women and children living with HIV/AIDS a priority in the National HIV/AIDS Strategy.
Check out photos, videos, and stories from the HIV/AIDS community discussions.
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