World AIDS Day: Obama addresses black gay male infections
President Obama challenged the world to usher in an AIDS-free generation during a panel discussion in George Washington University this morning to commemorate World AIDS Day..
By Igor Volsky
Think Progress
President Obama challenged the world to usher in an AIDS-free generation during a panel discussion in George Washington University this morning to commemorate World AIDS Day, and announced that the administration is committing an addition $50 million in increased funding for domestic HIV/AIDS treatment and care: $15 million for the Ryan White program that supports care provided by HIV medical clinics across the country and $35 million for state AIDS Drug Assistance Programs. Obama also set a new target of helping six million Americans obtain access to HIV treatment by the end of 2013.
WATCH AN EXCERPT FROM PRESIDENT OBAMA’S SPEECH
[youtubevid http://youtube.com/watch?v=6VFixezeRWM]
Citing the success of the President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief program in providing anti-retroviral (ARV) treatment to people living with HIV/AIDS around the world, Obama admitted that new infections are still increasing in the United States and specifically identified the LGBT community:
The infection rate here has been holding steady for over a decade. There are communities in this country being devastated by this disease. When new infections among young, black, gay men increase by nearly fifty percent in three years, we need to do more to show them that their lives matter. When Latinos are dying sooner than other groups; when black women feel forgotten even though they account for most of the new cases among women, we need to do more. This fight isn’t over. Not for the 1.2 million Americans who are living with HIV right now. […]
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