April 6, 2007
D.C. MAYOR’S AIDS “PEP RALLY”
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Adrian Fenty, head cheerleader and mayor of Washington, D.C. |
Washington, D.C., Mayor Adrian Fenty might have kept his word about holding an AIDS summit within his first 100 days in office this Wednesday, but it’s not clear whether the long-awaited event was a meaningful step - or an empty gesture.
“It felt more like a pep rally than a summit,” says Larry Bryant, Housing Works national field organizer. “There were no tangible plans, agendas or goals set for how he plans to fight the epidemic in the district. The day was spent rehashing issues that we were already aware of.”
Approximately 150 people attended the gathering at the Kaiser Family Foundation, including representatives from the D.C. Department of Health, D.C. HIV/AIDS Administration, Whitman Walker Clinic, Community Planning Group, Ryan White Planning Council, and leaders from grassroots organizations such as D.C. Fights Back and the D.C. chapter of the Campaign to End AIDS. The purpose of the day was to bring together city government, grassroots and community-based organizations to discuss strategies for and roadblocks to combating HIV in the District and to get the mayor to step up and assume a leadership role in the fight.
“We wanted to know where AIDS fell on administration's radar and the fact that the mayor kept his promise to have the summit in the first 100 days was positive,” says Alex Lawson, founder of D.C. Fights Back. “He said that AIDS is high on their agenda. Hopefully, this will open up channels of communication for the community to speak with the administration.”
No one at the wheel
However, what the mayor did not do was mention possible replacements for Marsha Martin, the former director of the HIV/AIDS division of the Department of Health. “He side stepped questions about who the potential candidates were,” says Bryant. “For 92 days, we’ve had nobody running the HIV/AIDS department in the city with the highest infection rate in the country.”
Washington, DC’s AIDS statistics are startling. Its AIDS case rate is 12 times the rate for the nation. In 2005, the AIDS—not HIV—case rate was 179.2 per 100,000, compared to New York City’s 39.7 and the U.S. average of 15 per 100,000. Actual HIV prevalence is still unknown for the District, but it is estimated that 1 in 20 is infected with HIV.
Bryant was also concerned by the lack of presence of actual HIV-positive people who access and rely on services in D.C. However, D.C. Fights Back and C2EA D.C. are planning a speak-out on May 17 at the Westminster Presbyterian Church starting at 7pm.
“The speak-out is completely open to the public and we want it to be our consumer-led summit meeting,” says Lawson. “We want as many people as possible to come and talk about what folks need now, and come up with some concrete asks that we can bring to the administration.” Lawson says that representatives from the mayor’s office and the administration office have agreed to attend.
For more information about the May 17th speak-out, visit www.fighthivindc.org.