MEXICO CITY--(Business Wire)--
"These numbers are a scathing indictment of how profoundly U.S.
and CDC HIV prevention efforts have failed," said Michael Weinstein,
President of AIDS Healthcare Foundation, the U.S. largest AIDS
organization, in a statement from Mexico City. "Despite the way the
CDC is spinning these new numbers--which AHF has been calling for the
public release of since last October--there is absolutely no good news
here. Without an accurate picture of the epidemic, vastly
underestimated for the past ten years, we have missed countless
opportunities to intervene with effective public health strategies.
The U.S. must immediately appropriate $200 million in order to test 10
million people over the next three years. Massive scale-up of HIV
testing is the only way to bring down these appalling numbers.
Identifying all those who are infected and linking them to treatment,
is the only way to break the chain of new infections and begin to
address the nation's runaway epidemic."
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*T
Media Availability - ALL DAY Michael Weinstein, AHF President
(323) 810-1238
Whitney Engeran, III, Director of AHF's
Public Health Division
(562) 682-1075
*T
About AHF
AIDS Healthcare Foundation (AHF) is the US' largest HIV/AIDS
organization. AHF currently provides treatment, care and support
services to more than 79,000 individuals in 20 countries worldwide in
the US, Africa, Latin America/Caribbean and Asia. Additional
information is available at www.aidshealth.org
AIDS Healthcare Foundation
Ged Kenslea, 323-791-5526
gedk@aidshealth.org
Lori Yeghiayan, 323-377-4312
lori.yeghiayan@aidshealth.org
Copyright Business Wire 2008
