Health care professionals and people living with HIV/AIDS were among those who attended the 2009 United States Conference on AIDS in San Francisco last week to discuss funding; treatment, care, and prevention in underserved communities; and other issues.

The National Minority AIDS Council sponsored the October 29-31 conference, which was held at the Hilton San Francisco Union Square and was expected to draw about 3,000 people.

The conference came as President Barack Obama announced that his administration would end the long-standing policy at Health and Human Services that banned travel to the U.S. by people with HIV infection.

Just before the conference's lunchtime plenary session on Friday, October 30 – the same day Obama made the announcement – attendees applauded as they watched a video of the White House ceremony, during which Obama signed a bill to reauthorize the Ryan White CARE Act and made the travel ban announcement.

Congress last month voted to extend the Ryan White program for another four years. The program provides medical care and medication to more than half a million people with low incomes who have HIV infection. Congress must now figure out funding for the measure.

Kathy Pearson, from Syracuse Model Neighborhood Facility Inc. in New York, was at the conference and praised Obama's actions.

"It gives me hope and courage to continue the work I do ... it's a good day," said Pearson.

However, Pearson said that she's still concerned about funding, and would like to see more work done to reduce stigma so that people "are more comfortable about knowing their HIV status."

Jesse Fry, with the Florida HIV/AIDS Advocacy Network, said lifting the ban was "long, long overdue." He said the fact that Obama made the move in conjunction with reauthorizing Ryan White "shows the White House's commitment to fighting HIV/AIDS in America."

Fry said that he'd like to see the administration raise funding for Ryan White "commensurate with the severity of the disease."

Jose Reyna, with the St. Hope Foundation in Houston, Texas, also praised Obama's actions, but said more services, such as prevention education, are needed for Latinos, especially immigrants.

'New Frontiers'

One of the speakers at the plenary session, titled "New Frontiers in HIV: Issues for Today's Leaders," was Derek Spencer, director of the JACQUES Initiative at the University of Maryland School of Medicine's Institute of Human Virology.

Spencer noted that since the beginning of the AIDS epidemic more than 25 years ago, death rates have decreased dramatically.

Now, many people living with HIV/AIDS are living longer and experiencing health issues typically related to aging.

Spencer said there's a need to address "truly living with HIV," urging patients to stop smoking and unhealthy diets.

Jack Mackenroth, a former contestant on the TV show Project Runway, facilitated a symposium Saturday, October 31, titled "Living Positive by Design."

The symposium was named after the campaign Mackenroth is involved with that aims to combat the stigma associated with HIV and AIDS.

Mackenroth, 40, has been HIV-positive for 20 years. He told the Bay Area Reporter in a phone interview that he's been "very, very lucky."

He said that the biggest challenges for him were early in the time after he was diagnosed.

"In the late 1980s and early 1990s, there weren't really a lot of treatment options ... the prognosis was fairly bleak."

For more information about Living Positive by Design, visit http://www.livingpositivebydesign.com.