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The White House liaison to the LGBT community marked Monday, National Gay Men's HIV/AIDS Awareness Day, with a commentary calling for a renewed commitment to fight the disease among men who have sex with men. According to CDC estimates, MSM account for just 4 percent of the US male population over age 13, "but we account for 53 percent of new HIV infections," Brian Bond, deputy director of the White House Office of Public Engagement, wrote in a blog for the Office of National AIDS Policy."I am worried about the kids out there and the generation that hasn't seen the devastating impact of this epidemic the way my generation has," said Bond, noting that he has been HIV-positive since 2001.
"Just a few days ago, [CDC] published new heartbreaking data showing that one in five gay and bisexual men in 21 major US cities are living with HIV," Bond said. The data are from the 2008 National HIV Behavioral Surveillance System, which surveys cities with a high level of AIDS incidence among at-risk populations.
"These statistics are shocking and they demand a stronger, more focused national response that includes federal leadership, combined with new levels of commitment and focus at the state and local levels," Bond said. "These data also demand a reinvigorated commitment to ending HIV/AIDS from the LGBT community. We all have a responsibility to reverse that trend."
The Friends of AIDS Foundation is dedicated to enhancing the quality of life for HIV positive individuals and empowering people to make healthy choices to prevent the spread of the HIV virus. To learn more about The Friends of AIDS Foundation, please visit: http://www.friendsofaids.org.
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