NMAC's Second Stakeholders Call with Dr. Fenton
Podcast of June 2009 Stakeholder Conference Call with
Dr. Kevin
Fenton, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
On May 22nd, Dr. Fenton addressed Questions from
NMAC Constituents about the CDC's New Act Against AIDS Campaign. If you weren't able to participate in NMAC's Second Stakeholders Call with Dr. Fenton, you may download the recordings below.
Introduction: Dr. Kevin Fenton Introduces CDC’s Act Against
AIDS Awareness Campaign.
Question #1: I am an AIDS patient who disclosed his
HIV/AIDS status years ago, action which has definitely helped me dealing
with the illness and also helped as a prevention tool. My question is: Do
you believe that disclosure is advisable for HIV/AIDS persons regarding their
well being and also as a prevention tool? – Submitted by José F. Colón, San Juan, Puerto Rico.
Question #2: In the "Get the Facts" page of the
CDC's AIDS awareness information, the CDC lists poverty, homelessness, and lack
of access to health care as risk factors for HIV. Each of these factors can be
associated with lack of employment or underemployment. What efforts are
currently underway within the CDC to (a) better understand the impact of
employment or lack thereof on HIV prevention and (b) what is being done to
address the barriers to employment and vocational development for people with
HIV/AIDS? – Submitted by Dr. Liza Conyers, Department of Counselor Education, Pennsylvania State University.
Question #3: Please ask Dr. Fenton to explain
why the New Campaign is only in English and not in the targeted populations
native tongue "Spanish" – Submitted by a constituent on NMAC’s
Twitter page.
Question #4: I was wondering if you could comment on the
CDC’s use of social networking/web 2.0 tools in communicating HIV prevention
messaging. Will you be doing more with texting, widgets, etc. I know the agency
is working with you on Twitter – that is how I learned about this call! Also,
it would be great if the campaign could distribute a flash image of an hour
glass that counted down the 9.5 minutes and then flipped over – only to start
counting down again. A regular LCD counter – like the image already associated
with the campaign – would work nicely as well. Thank you. – Submitted by
Cressycat on Twitter.
Question #5: Fredette West of African American Health
Alliance, located in Maryland:
1) African Americans are hardest hit by this continuing
epidemic, what specific steps are underway that will help to turn around this
epidemic especially in this community? When are real measurable results
expected based on the CDC’s new/intensified plan of action? What is the funding
level of the targeted community investment?
2) As we know, with regard to health care, just having a
card won’t fix the problem as coverage does not equal access, and access does
not equally quality in and of themselves. In your professional judgment, what specific
provisions are needed in health reform to make it really respond to the
HIV/AIDS epidemic in the Black community? Same question as to each of the other
communities of color? To what extend have these targeted needs been expressed
by CDC to the Secretary HHS and the White House AIDS Office? to House/Senate
bill drafting committees? What has been the response and action taken to date?
Question #6: Is there going to be any focus on Native or API
MSM or the Native or APIs communities, or is this only going to be for African
Americans and Latino folks? – Submitted by Harlem.
Question #7: Will there be funding available for HIV testing
through this initiative or is the expectation to partner with established
testing groups? – Submitted by Caroline Martin, President of the National
Council of Negro Women in Southern California.
Question #8: We at the Asian and Pacific Islander Coalition
on HIV/AIDS (APICHA) are very concerned that are no phases targeting Asian and
Pacific Islanders. API MSMs have been disproportionately affected by HIV/AIDS.
Will linguistically and culturally appropriate Act Against AIDS materials be
available to these groups? – Submitted by Melisa of Asian and Pacific Islander
Coalition on HIV/AIDS.
Question #9: There are organizations with the availability
to affectively conduct community driven research and/or evaluate community
initiatives, to really determine what works. Is there a place for these
organizations at the prevention table and is it possible the CDC will create an
initiative that invites proposals from African American academia grounded and
invested in evaluating HIV prevention community outcome? It appears that it’s
necessary to have a separate significant and clever campaign initiatives for
these. – Submitted by Jackie from Meharry
Medicine College.
Question #10: What role do you see the female condom, a new
and cheaper version will be on the market soon, playing and preventing HIV
infections among women? Are there any plans to look at CDC more actively
promoting and supporting health departments in integrating female condom
distribution and counseling? – Submitted by Judy Lueben, from Public Square
Communications.
Question #11: In surfing the website I’m not seeing African
American images; could you please direct me to where I could find those images
for this campaign? – Submitted by Caroline Martin, President of the National
Council of Negro Women.
Question #12: How are you going to integrate other STDs into
this new HIV/AIDS initiative, especially giving that Gonorrhea is 18 times
higher in African Americans than in whites? – Submitted by Steven.
Question #13: What is the status for the cure of HIV/AIDS? –
Submitted by AIDS and Awareness Prevention Ministry at St. Pauls Baptist
Church.
Question #14: Heard the question about female condom, can it
be altered for use for protection against HIV transmission from MSMs and will
CDC be looking into this for the Act Against AIDS campaign? – Submitted by
Patricia on Twitter.
