- The following are statements by former Congressman Tom
Coburn, MD and the Children's AIDS Fund regarding tomorrow's announcement
that the CDC will recommend that HIV finally be treated from a public health
perspective, thereby abandoning the AIDS 'exceptionalism' approach that
has failed to reduce the HIV incidence in the U.S., allowing in 40,000
Americans to become newly infected every year. This is a historical development,
perhaps the most significant in over a decade, that will save countless
lives.
-
- Tom A. Coburn, M.D.
- Muskogee, Oklahoma 74402
- (918) 682-4318
-
- FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
- April 16, 2003
-
- Coburn Praises Bush Administration's Newly-Unveiled
- HIV Prevention Initiative
- Science to Finally Replace 'AIDS Exceptionalism' as National
Policy
-
- Former Congressman Tom Coburn, M.D. is praising
the Bush Administration's new HIV prevention initiative to be unveiled
by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) on Thursday.
-
- The new strategy is described in the April 17 issue of
CDC's Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report. CDC outlines four priorities
to prevent HIV:
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- · Making HIV testing a routine part of medical
care;
- · Creating new models for diagnosing HIV
infections outside medical settings;
- · Working with people diagnosed with HIV
and their partners; and
- · Incorporating HIV testing in the routine
battery of prenatal tests.
-
- "After more than two decades of AIDS, we are finally
moving towards addressing the disease as a public health problem,"
Dr. Coburn said. "For too long the CDC's policies have protected
the virus rather than the public. This new initiative will work to stop
HIV in its tracks by identifying those who are infected earlier and empowering
these individuals to protect their own health and to prevent passing the
virus onto others."
-
- Dr. Coburn noted "'AIDS Exceptionalism' has dictated
HIV/AIDS policy from the beginning of the epidemic. But now, science will
be the basis. HIV will finally begin to be treated with the same public
health techniques that have been successfully used to combat other contagious
diseases, many of which are far less deadly than HIV."
-
- According to the CDC's estimates, 40,000 Americans become
newly infected with HIV every year. This number has remained unchanged
for over a decade, and includes more than 300 babies who contract HIV from
their mothers.
-
- "We have known for nearly a decade how to virtually
eliminate perinatal HIV transmission through diagnosis, treatment of infected
mothers and their newborn children and avoiding breast feeding," Coburn
noted. "Yet political concerns prevented the CDC from adopting a
sensible public health approach that reflected this science. As a result,
thousands of babies have needlessly begun their life with an AIDS death
sentence. This new approach will greatly reduce the number of future AIDS
babies."
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- More than 200,000 Americans living with HIV are unaware
that they are infected, according to the CDC. "Incorporating HIV
screening as a routine component of medical care and making HIV testing
available in nontraditional settings will greatly enhance the number of
those who become aware of their status and, in turn, provide greater opportunities
for care and prevention. The same is true of new efforts to help those
who are infected to notify current and past partners," Dr. Coburn
noted.
-
- "President Bush and his staff deserve credit and
recognition for being the first Administration to seriously address HIV/AIDS,
both domestically and globally," Coburn said. "And while this
initiative represents a major step forward in winning the battle against
HIV, much still remains to be done to finally end the scourge of this dreadful
disease."
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- Dr. Coburn is a practicing physician and a former
member of Congress from Oklahoma. Coburn was the author of the Ryan White
CARE Act of 2000, which renewed and updated the federal government's AIDS
care programs that included incorporating prevention into care services.
-
-
- FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
-
- CONTACT: Anita Smith
- Children's AIDS Fund
- 703/433-1560
-
- Children's AIDS Fund Congratulates Bush Administration
on
- New HIV Prevention Initiative
-
- Washington, DC (April 16, 2003)-The Children's AIDS Fund
congratulates the Bush Administration, the U.S. Department of Health and
Human Services, and the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
on its new HIV Prevention Initiative to be announced tomorrow. The initiative,
unveiled in the April 17 issue of the Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report,
outlines four priority areas to prevent HIV:
-
- * Making HIV testing a routine part of medical
care;
- * Creating new models for diagnosing HIV infections
outside medical settings;
- * Working with people diagnosed with HIV and their
partners; and
- * Incorporating HIV testing in the routine battery
of prenatal tests.
-
- "This new initiative is based on sound medicine
and public health principles," said Shepherd Smith, founder and board
member of the Children's AIDS Fund. "It is also consistent with the
tenets of the Children's AIDS Fund and with the numerous statements we
have provided in testimony before Congress on this issue since 1987."
-
- Smith credits the Bush Administration with the willingness
to take the steps necessary to stop the spread of HIV/AIDS in the United
States. "Since being involved in HIV education, prevention, and direct
services early in the epidemic, we have waited 17 years for leadership
willing to make the difficult yet bold decisions needed to stop the spread
of HIV in this nation and around the world," Smith said.
-
- According to Smith, the most common prevention messages
have been largely based on unproven theory of risk or harm reduction rather
than on proven public health interventions and sound medical principles.
"Unfortunately these efforts have proven largely ineffective as evidenced
by a stable or increasing HIV epidemic in the United States. The bottom
line is that these measures will help save lives and limit suffering, which
are everyone's objectives involved in the AIDS issue."
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- The Children's AIDS Fund is a non-profit organization
that works to limit suffering of children and their families caused by
HIV disease by providing care, services, resources referrals, and education.
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