Mnet :: The 2008 Presidential Elections and the Black AIDS Epidemic

LOS ANGELES, Jan. 2 /PRNewswire/ -- The Black AIDS Institute released today the first in a series of educational briefs on electoral politics -- We Demand Accountability: The 2008 Presidential Elections and the Black AIDS Epidemic. The booklet is the latest in a series of reports and news articles, published as a part of the National Black AIDS Mobilization (BAM) campaign that will help Black America hold elected officials accountable for ending the Black AIDS epidemic.

"Ending AIDS is about leadership-personal, professional and political leadership," said Phill Wilson, the Institute's CEO. "We have aggressively called upon Black America to take responsibility for our own health and that of our communities. And part of that responsibility is insisting that our elected officials also do their part to help us end this epidemic."

As we dive now into the primary season, We Demand Accountability empowers Black voters to engage elected officials by:

-- Educating Black voters on the key questions that they should expect

any candidate for elected office to answer about HIV/AIDS in our

community;

-- Putting the campaigns and candidates on notice that Black America will

expect them to not only be aware of the problem but to have a plan for

dealing with it; and

-- Educating voters on what the current presidential candidates have and

have not contributed to the fight against AIDS in Black America.

Questions Black America Must Ask

In August 2006, a group of leading voices and organizers in the African American community came together to launch the BAM, led by Balm in Gilead, the National Black Leadership Commission on AIDS, and the Institute. The Mobilization has four primary goals, and the report evaluates the candidates based on them:

-- Reduce infection rates. The Mobilization seeks to slash HIV infection

rates in our community by half over the next five years.

-- Get Blacks tested. The Mobilization seeks to boost the number of

Blacks who know their HIV status by 50 percent in the next five years.

-- Support appropriate care. The Mobilization seeks to insure that

African Americans who do test positive have access to appropriate care

and are personally able to take the necessary steps to live healthily

with HIV.

-- Eradicate stigma. The Mobilization seeks to finally wipe out all of

the needless, deadly stigmas associated with HIV/AIDS that have for

too long blocked Black communities from saving themselves from this

epidemic.

The Black AIDS Institute sent written surveys to each of the 16 declared Republican and Democratic presidential candidates in October 2007. The survey asked 15 questions designed to measure the candidates' commitment to accomplishing the Black AIDS Mobilization's goals. Some questions were general; others asked about specific policies. We Demand Accountability summarizes the candidates' positions on these four broad questions, based on answers to the survey, previously published evaluations of candidates on AIDS more broadly, and the candidates' own public statements and platforms.

Candidate's Answers

A review of the overall field of candidates in the Democratic and Republican parties provides a stark comparison. All eight Democratic candidates have robust public records on the core questions; there is scant information available on any of the questions for all of the Republicans. The information available about the Republican candidates does not bode well for the Black epidemic.

Some notable differences between the parties are:

-- Six Democrats have committed to drafting a national strategy to end

AIDS; only one Republican has done so.

-- Seven of eight Democrats support lifting the ban on federal funding

for needle exchange; no Republican has made such a commitment.

-- All three front-running Democrats[1] -- Sen. Hillary Clinton, John

Edwards and Sen. Barack Obama -- have published AIDS plans that stress

the importance of addressing the epidemic's racial disparities; no

Republican has done so.

-- Seven of eight Democrats have vowed to increase funding for the Ryan

White CARE Act; no Republican has done so.

Among the top-tier Democrats, all agree on basic principles of targeting resources to address the Black epidemic, putting science ahead of ideology and politics, and building a national strategy with accountable goals.

There are, however, notable differences among the leading Democrats:

-- Obama's record on encouraging HIV testing among Blacks far outstrips

all other candidates: He and his wife, Michelle, have been publicly

tested and have spoken forcefully about testing's importance.

-- While Edwards and Obama have vowed to end funding for abstinence-only

sex education, Clinton has stated only her support for comprehensive

sex education.

-- Clinton, both in response to the survey and in her subsequently

published AIDS platform, has made the most forceful commitment to

working with Black faith leaders to address the epidemic.

[1] Gov. Bill Richardson published an AIDS plan after the deadline.

Contact: Phill Wilson:

(213) 353-3610; (323) 829-4195

Philltracy@aol.com Available Topic Expert(s): For information on the listed expert(s), click appropriate link. Phill Wilson http://profnet.prnewswire.com/Subscriber/ExpertProfile.aspx?ei=70245 SOURCE Black AIDS Institute

-0- 01/02/2008

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