San Franciscans and people throughout northern California who are living with HIV/AIDS will have the opportunity to speak directly with the White House Office of National AIDS Policy about ideas for a national HIV/AIDS strategy at two community discussions in the Bay Area, San Francisco on October 16 and Oakland on November 1, as well as online at ONAP's Web site.
Advocates have been talking about a national strategy for years. Having a national HIV/AIDS strategy is a requirement for other countries that receive funds through the President's Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief, which was launched by President George W. Bush in 2003. But sadly our own nation has not had a national strategy of its own.
During the 2008 presidential race, the talk turned into serious advocacy. Some 350 organizations and 1,200 individuals signed on to the call to action for a strategy and both Barack Obama and John McCain committed to develop a national HIV/AIDS strategy if elected.
This commitment to a national HIV/AIDS strategy was more than campaign rhetoric for President Obama; he put his words into action quickly. Soon after being sworn into office the president named Jeffrey S. Crowley, MPH, as director of the White House Office of National AIDS Policy and has made the development of the strategy Mr. Crowley's top priority. The president also articulated three goals that the strategy must address: 1) lang=EN Reducing HIV incidence, 2) Increasing access to care and optimizing health outcomes and 3) Reducing HIV-related health disparities.
Community involvement in developing HIV/AIDS policy has been a hallmark of the response to the epidemic since the very beginning and President Obama has not only respected that legacy but is building on it. The San Francisco and Oakland community discussions with White House staff are two of 14 such meetings throughout the country. Additionally, the Office of National AIDS Policy announced an online "Call to Action: Americans Speak About HIV/AIDS" to encourage community-based organizations, faith-based organizations, schools, businesses, research institutions, and other groups to hold their own discussions and to submit the results from these discussions on the ONAP Web site. Individuals are also encouraged to submit their ideas.
In late May, San Francisco began our discussion at a roundtable sponsored by the Coalition for a National AIDS Strategy, the San Francisco AIDS Foundation, Project Inform, Stop AIDS Project, and the Asian Pacific Islander Wellness Center and supported by more than a dozen other organizations. A diverse group of more than 80 community members came together to offer ideas about the development of a national AIDS strategy and that input was delivered to the White House in June. The ideas from that meeting were numerous but included suggestions such as examining HIV/AIDS strategies from other nations and evaluating national strategies that the United States may have for other programs in order not to recreate the wheel; that research, both medical and social, need to be a component of each of the president's three goals; and issues surrounding stigma should also be addressed within all of these goals. But the roundtable was just the first part of San Francisco's input into the process.
The community discussion on October 16 will allow ONAP staff to hear directly from the HIV/AIDS community in San Francisco and throughout northern California. This is a critical moment in our nation's response to HIV/AIDS. President Obama's administration is offering the grassroots of the HIV/AIDS community an unprecedented opportunity to engage in a dialogue that will help inform the future of our nation's domestic response to HIV/AIDS. Now we must step up and offer our ideas to address the three goals for a national HIV/AIDS strategy; ideas that come from the stories of our lives and our experiences. The HIV Prevention Justice Alliance has developed "Tips to Form Effective Community Testimony to Shape a Results-Oriented National HIV/AIDS Strategy," a worksheet in English and Spanish to help people and groups develop their testimony. This excellent resource is available at www.champnetwork.org.
The San Francisco community discussion will take place on Friday, October 16, from 6 to 8 p.m. in the Robertson Auditorium at the Mission Bay Conference Center at UCSF's Mission Bay Campus, 1675 Owens Street. Individuals interested in attending the community discussion may register online at www.cmpinc.net/ONAP (registering is encouraged but not required). At the time of writing this column, logistics for the November 1 community discussion in Oakland had not been finalized. More information on the community process developed by the White House, including the public comment page, can be found at www.whitehouse.gov/onap.
Randy Allgaier is the interim director of the San Francisco HIV Health Services Planning Council.