White House To Announce National HIV/AIDS Strategy on July 13th
An announcement is expected from the White House tomorrow on the first national strategy for continuing the fight against HIV/AIDS domestically.
The New York Times reported that the plan includes a target of reducing new infections by 25% in five years. Other goals include increasing the proportion of infected people who know their status to 90%, and getting 85% of the newly diagnosed into clinical care within 3 months of diagnosis.
However, no new federal funds are attached to the plan, according to the New York Times, which saw a final draft of the strategy report. Currently the U.S. government spends $19 billion per year on HIV/AIDS programs. The plan will likely instead emphasize a shift of resources to populations at highest risk of infection.
The announcement of this strategy, coming right before the International AIDS Conference in Vienna next week, will highlight the need to continue focusing on HIV/AIDS despite a changed perception in the west that the AIDS epidemic is waning. However, like with international AIDS efforts and funding, the scope of the goals may exceed the resources devoted to them.
Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sibelius and Domestic Council Policy Director Melody Barnes will make the announcement tomorrow, July 13th, at 2pm Eastern. President Obama will make a statement at 5:50pm Eastern.
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