2004
Researchers continue to learn more about HIV and its impact
on the body. On January 5, Dr. Anthony S. Fauci, Director of NIAID announced:
Individual risk of acquiring HIV and experiencing rapid disease
progression is not uniform within populations.
On February 17, the UN
releases a report warning of the growing AIDS crisis in Eastern Europe and the
former Soviet Union.
The organizers of CPLS expand the meeting's focus to include
all CDC grantees working in HIV/AIDS prevention. The National Association
of People with AIDS (NAPWA) is added as a partner, and the name of the
conference is changed to the HIV Prevention Leadership Summit (HPLS). That
year's meeting is held in Atlanta,
GA.
The 2004 USCA is held in Philadelphia, PA,
marking the first time that meeting is held in the Northeast. At the
conference, NMAC holds a special event honoring a song about the impact of
HIV/AIDS among African-American women by composer Patrick Gandy.
Matthew Cusick, who successfully sued Cirque Du Soleil,
which fired him after learning of his
HIV+ status, is featured during the
closing plenary.
Abroad, the 15th International AIDS Conference is held in Bangkok, Thailand
and marks the first time the conference takes place in Southeast
Asia. The Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis, and Malaria
holds its first ever "Partnership Forum," in Bangkok, Thailand;
400 delegates participate. G8 leaders called for the creation of Global
HIV Vaccine Enterprise, a consortium of government and private sector
groups designed to coordinate and accelerate research efforts to find an
effective HIV vaccine.
Broadway legend Sheryl Lee Ralph becomes NMAC's official
celebrity spokesperson.
The FDA approves the first oral test for HIV on March 24,
and the US Department of Health and Human Services announces its new expedited
review process by FDA for fixed dose combination and co-packaged products for
use by the US
in purchasing medications under PEPFAR. UNAIDS launches The Global Coalition on Women and AIDS
to raise the visibility of the epidemic's impact on women and girls around the world.
Kofi Annan, head of the UN, compares AIDS to
the war on terror.
NATAF takes place in St.
Louis, MO.
In 2004, 40,907 new AIDS cases and 18,099 deaths occur in
the U.S. Sadly, 2004 marks the passing of NMAC's longtime friend, AIDS activist
and Housing Works Executive Director, Keith Cylar, to AIDS. He was 45. Housing
Works establishes the Keith Cylar Activist Memorial Fund in his honor. NMAC
also mourns the loss of Pandora Singleton, NMAC Board Member and Executive
Director of Project Azuka.