Blog Daily Listings RSS https://obamawhitehouse.archives.gov/blog-daily-listings-rss/112496/posts en National Black HIV/AIDS Awareness Day: Coming Together to Fight HIV/AIDS https://obamawhitehouse.archives.gov/blog/2011/02/07/national-black-hivaids-awareness-day-coming-together-fight-hivaids To commemorate National Black HIV/AIDS Awareness Day, Senior Advisor to President Obama Valerie Jarrett shared her heart-felt thoughts on the importance of combating HIV/AIDS. Watch her video message:

[[nid:26004]]

National Black HIV/AIDS Awareness is not just a day to increase awareness, but a day to act on your own health.

  • Do you know your status? If not, text your zipcode to 566948 (“KNOWIT”) to find and HIV testing site near you or go to HIVtest.org.
  • You can also call 1-800-CDC-INFORMATION for more information and testing sites in your area.
  • Visit www.aids.gov for Federal resources, events in your area and tools to commemorate National Black HIV/AIDS Awareness Day.
]]> Mon, 07 Feb 2011 17:05:18 -0500 <a href="/blog/author/jeffrey-s-crowley">Jeffrey S. Crowley</a> whr-219316 Commemorating World AIDS Day https://obamawhitehouse.archives.gov/blog/2010/12/01/commemorating-world-aids-day [[nid:23687]]

Today, Obama Administration officials and leaders in the AIDS community will speak at a World AIDS Day event at the White House to reflect on the lessons learned and the path forward in the fight against HIV and AIDS in the United States and around the world.  The White House World AIDS Day Event will include keynote remarks as well as a panel discussion with HIV/AIDS researchers and advocates and will be live streamed at 1:30 on obamawhitehouse.archives.gov/live. 

World AIDS Day Ribbon at the White House

A red ribbon is displayed on the North Portico of the White House, Nov. 30, 2010, in advance of World AIDS Day. (Official White House Photo by Lawrence Jackson) (Official White House Photo)

Throughout his career in public service, President Obama has been committed to fighting HIV/AIDS here at home and around the world.  With the President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR) as a foundation, the President put forward an ambitious $63 billion Global Health Initiative (GHI) to combat HIV/AIDS, address other health challenges and assist partner countries to strengthen their health systems and build capacity to provide services sustainably.  Through the GHI, the President’s aim is to ensure our programs have maximum impact, as this Administration’s focus is on outcomes, such as lives saved -- not simply dollars spent. Since taking office, the number of those on antiretroviral treatment has nearly doubled to 3.2 million – up from 1.7 million in 2008, and under the GHI, the U.S. continues to be the global leader in funding for HIV/AIDS.  The President proposed the largest request to date for PEPFAR for FY 2011.  Additionally, in October, the Administration announced an unprecedented multi-year pledge of $4 billion for 2011-2013 to the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria.  This pledge represents a 38% increase in U.S. support for the Global Fund, and is in addition to more than $5.1 billion provided to the Fund to date.   

Domestically, the Office of National AIDS Policy released the first comprehensive National HIV/AIDS Strategy and Federal Implementation Plan for the United States with three key goals: reducing the number of new infections; increasing access to care and optimizing health outcomes for people living with HIV; and reducing HIV-related health disparities.

Jeffrey Crowley is the Director of the Office of National AIDS Policy (ONAP)

]]> Wed, 01 Dec 2010 08:30:00 -0500 <a href="/blog/author/jeffrey-s-crowley">Jeffrey S. Crowley</a> whr-219276 NIH-Funded Study Finds Daily Dose of Antiretroviral Drug Reduces Risk of HIV https://obamawhitehouse.archives.gov/blog/2010/11/23/nih-funded-study-finds-daily-dose-antiretroviral-drug-reduces-risk-hiv Today, the New England Journal of Medicine published research findings from the iPrEx study funded by the National Institutes of Health (NIH) and the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation testing the efficacy of pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP).  The study is a major step forward in our ability to prevent new HIV infections.  The study found that a daily dose of an oral antiretroviral drug taken by HIV-negative gay and bisexual men and transgender women reduced the risk of acquiring HIV infection by 43.8 percent. The data showed even higher levels of protection from infection, up to 73 percent, among those participants who adhered most closely to the daily drug regimen.

This study is the first of its kind and we will need to validate these findings with other research, much of which is currently underway.  There are still a lot of unanswered questions, such as whether this approach is effective in other populations.  We also need to examine whether PrEP works effectively with other antiretroviral medications.  There are also critical questions about when and for how long individuals need to take these medications and how to combine PrEP with other prevention tools to achieve maximum results.  We also need to better understand how to exploit the promise of PrEP without sending signals that lead individuals to stop using condoms or taking other steps that may increase their risk of becoming infected with HIV.

Today, however, is a day to rejoice in these exciting results.  What is particularly encouraging for many people is that this study was proven effective in gay and bisexual men - the group responsible for more than half of all new HIV infections in the United States and the only group where HIV incidence has been rising in recent years.  We all hope that this will be shown to work for heterosexuals, people who inject drugs, and others.  These results also compliment the promising study results announced at the International AIDS Conference in July from the CAPRISA study that demonstrated the efficacy of one of the two drugs used in the iPrEx study (tenofovir) when used as a vaginal microbicide.   The findings from these two studies showing that antiretroviral therapy can prevent infection in HIV negative individuals is particularly encouraging given the President’s goal of lowering the annual number of new infections by 25% over the next five years.  Although no single HIV prevention strategy is 100 percent effective, today’s findings suggests that antiretroviral medication may play an important role in developing the most effective combination of approaches to prevent HIV.

In commenting today on these promising results, President Obama said the following,

I am encouraged by this announcement of groundbreaking research on HIV prevention. While more work is needed, these kinds of studies could mark the beginning of a new era in HIV prevention. As this research continues, the importance of using proven HIV prevention methods cannot be overstated.

Jeffrey S. Crowley is the Director of the Office of National AIDS Policy

]]> Tue, 23 Nov 2010 17:40:20 -0500 <a href="/blog/author/jeffrey-s-crowley">Jeffrey S. Crowley</a> whr-192916 ONAP to Hold Community Meeting and Conference Call on the National HIV/AIDS Strategy https://obamawhitehouse.archives.gov/blog/2010/04/26/onap-hold-community-meeting-and-conference-call-national-hivaids-strategy On Friday, May 14, 2010, the White House Office of National AIDS Policy (ONAP) will hold a community meeting to provide an update and gain additional recommendations for the National HIV/AIDS Strategy (NHAS).  For those who cannot attend the meeting in person, ONAP will hold a conference call shortly after the meeting to discuss the strategy. 

We know the strategy’s success will rely on the participation of our community partners across the country.  That’s why we hosted 14 community discussions across the country, and conducted an online call to action to solicit recommendations via our website. In February, we co-hosted with the Department of Health and Human Services, a community meeting to update the public on our progress and introduce the Federal HIV Interagency Working Group.  Earlier this month, we released a report summarizing community recommendations we received for the National HIV/AIDS Strategy. 

During the May 14 meeting and the conference call, ONAP will provide a brief overview of key priorities and identify issues where additional feedback would be helpful.  Participants will be able to offer suggestions for the strategy, and we encourage public input on the following topics:

•    Involving non-traditional stakeholders in fighting HIV/AIDS
•    Expanding the engagement of key partners including businesses and philanthropy, faith communities, and HIV service providers
•    Ensuring that implementation of the National HIV/AIDS Strategy is successful

Below are details for both the community meeting and conference call:

ONAP COMMUNITY MEETING

When:  Friday, May 14th at 11:00 am (Eastern Time).  Guests should arrive by 10:15am to ensure smooth security processing.)  The meeting will end by 12:30 pm.
Where:   South Court Auditorium in the Eisenhower Executive Office Building of the White House
To RSVP for this event, please submit the following information to aidspolicy@who.eop.gov by Close of Business Monday, May, 10th: Full Name, Date of Birth, Social Security Number, Country of Origin, Citizenship.  Members of the public will be accommodated on a first come first served basis as meeting room space is limited.  We will respond to RSVPs to confirm all reservations to attend the event.

ONAP COMMUNITY CONFERENCE CALL

When: Friday, May 14th at 1:00pm (Eastern Time).  The call will end at 2:00 pm (Eastern Time).
Conference Call Phone Number: (800) 288-8961          

Media wishing to attend must send the following information to media_affairs@who.eop.gov by close of business on Monday, May 10: News Outlet, Full Name, Date of Birth, Social Security Number, Country of Origin, Citizenship.

Jeffrey S. Crowley is the Director of the Office of National AIDS Policy and Senior Advisor on Disability Policy

]]> Mon, 26 Apr 2010 11:21:34 -0400 <a href="/blog/author/jeffrey-s-crowley">Jeffrey S. Crowley</a> whr-219196 A &#039;Call to Action&#039; from the Office of National AIDS Policy https://obamawhitehouse.archives.gov/blog/2009/10/02/a-call-action-office-national-aids-policy
Every nine-and-a-half minutes, someone in the United States becomes infected with HIV, which results in more than 56,000 new infections each year. In addition, there are 1.2 million people in this country living with HIV/AIDS, many of whom require services and support.
President Obama is committed to developing a coordinated, measurable and successful National HIV/AIDS Strategy (NHAS) to address the HIV epidemic in the United States.  In August, the Office of National AIDS Policy (ONAP) launched a series of Community Discussions in 14 cities across the United States.  In an effort to reach all Americans, we are also issuing a "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 submit to the ONAP website the strategic steps we could take as a nation to respond to the HIV/AIDS epidemic.
The ONAP web site will begin accepting public input as part of the "Call to Action" on Friday, October 2, 2009, and the ONAP web site will continue to accept public input through Friday, November 13, 2009. For more information on the "Call to Action" or to submit a recommendation for the National HIV/AIDS Strategy, please visit /administration/eop/onap/action/

Jeffrey Crowley is the Director of the Office of National AIDS Policy and Senior Advisor on Disability Policy at the White House
]]> Fri, 02 Oct 2009 08:51:00 -0400 <a href="/blog/author/jeffrey-s-crowley">Jeffrey S. Crowley</a> whr-219086 The Office of National AIDS Policy&#039;s New Site https://obamawhitehouse.archives.gov/blog/2009/08/25/office-national-aids-policys-new-site I wanted to take a minute today to introduce you to the new White House Office of National AIDS Policy (ONAP) webpage. We hope you will visit here often for updates on our progress in developing a National HIV/AIDS Strategy (NHAS) and in helping the President to advance his HIV-related policy agenda. You can also use this page to provide feedback regarding the NHAS and other HIV/AIDS issues.

From this page, you can use the tabs to navigate to other pages to learn more about the ONAP team, our plans for developing the NHAS, how to submit comments and public input for the NHAS, and how to contact us.

Every nine-and-a-half minutes, someone in the United States becomes infected with HIV…resulting in more than 56,000 new infections each year. We also have more than 1.2 million people in this country who are living with HIV/AIDS, many of whom require services and support. Clearly, we continue to face a very serious public health challenge in responding to the domestic HIV/AIDS epidemic. Working together, I am confident that we can stop the spread of HIV and ensure that those affected get the care and support they need.


Jeffrey S. Crowley is the Director of the Office of National AIDS Policy
  ]]> Tue, 25 Aug 2009 17:00:00 -0400 <a href="/blog/author/jeffrey-s-crowley">Jeffrey S. Crowley</a> whr-219176