A 'Call to Action' from the Office of 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