WHAT:
The UCLA Program in Global Health, in conjunction with the AIDS Project Los Angeles and Physicians for Human Rights, presents "Politics and Realities of Global and Local AIDS," a town hall meeting exploring policies for addressing the AIDS crisis locally and around the world.
WHO:
Participants will include:
- U.S. Rep. Howard Berman (D-Calif.), chairman of the House Foreign Affairs Committee
- Dr. Eloida Tumwesigye, member of the Ugandan parliament and chair of Uganda's Committee on HIV/AIDS and Related Matters
- Gail Wyatt, associate director of the UCLA AIDS Institute and professor of psychiatry and biobehavioral sciences at the Semel Institute for Neuroscience and Human Behavior at UCLA
- Dr. Thomas Coates, associate director of the UCLA AIDS Institute and director of the UCLA Program in Global Health
- Craig E. Thompson, executive director of AIDS Project Los Angeles
WHEN:
Noon1:30 p.m., Thursday, Oct. 23
WHERE:
Tamkin Auditorium (B130) at the Ronald Reagan UCLA Medical Center (757 Westwood Plaza, UCLA campus)
BACKGROUND:
HIV/AIDS cuts across national, gender and racial boundaries. The crisis is particularly acute in Africa, where women now account for nearly 75 percent of HIV-positive Africans between the ages of 15 to 25. In the U.S., African American and Hispanic women who make up 26 percent of the female population between the ages of 13 and 24 account for 79 percent of reported HIV infections in women age 13 to 19 and 75 percent in women age 20 to 24. The Centers for Disease Control recently raised its estimate of new HIV infections in 2006 from 40,000 to 56,300, with cases among gay men and communities of color skyrocketing. African Americans now account for more new HIV infections, ongoing HIV infections, AIDS cases and HIV-related deaths than any other racial or ethnic group in the U.S. Hispanics, who represent 14 percent of the U.S. population, account for 22 percent of new HIV and AIDS diagnoses. And while the President's Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief was recently reauthorized for $48 billion over five years, it is unclear whether the plan will be fully funded and implemented. The town hall meeting will address these and other issues and what to do about them.
MEDIA CONTACTS:
Enrique Rivero, UCLA Health Sciences Media Relations, [email protected], 310-794-2273
Kate Krauss, Physicians for Human Rights, [email protected], 215-939-7852
Justin Burke, AIDS Project Los Angeles, [email protected], 213-201-1525
PARKING:
Call Enrique Rivero at UCLA to arrange parking.
