President Obama Signs the Ryan White HIV/AIDS Treatment Extension Act of 2009

By Christopher Bates, Director HHS’ Office of HIV/AIDS Policy

President Barack Obama and lawmakers applaud Jeanne White-Ginder, right, mother of Ryan White, during his remarks before signing the Ryan White HIV/AIDS Treatment Extension Act of 2009 in the Diplomatic Reception Room of the White House. October 30, 2009.

Today President Obama signed the Ryan White HIV/AIDS Treatment Extension Act of 2009. In his remarks at the signing, the President said, “over the past 19 years this legislation has evolved from an emergency response into a comprehensive national program for the care and support of Americans living with HIV/AIDS. It helps communities that are most severely affected by this epidemic and often least served by our health care system, including minority communities, the LGBT community, rural communities, and the homeless. It’s often the only option for the uninsured and the underinsured. And it provides life-saving medical services to more than half a million Americans every year, in every corner of the country.”

National HIV Prevention Conference Delivers Call to Action

By Carl W. Dieffenbach, Ph.D., Director of NIAID’s Division of AIDS

I just returned from the National HIV Prevention Conference in Atlanta where a sense of excitement and renewed enthusiasm for fighting the HIV/AIDS pandemic were buoyed by the new opportunities that the Obama administration brings. Conversely, there was also an underlying current of anxiety about how our country’s economic situation is affecting HIV prevention services. First, let’s start with the positive.