Barbara Lee, CBC Members Get Tested at Capitol to Highlight Importance of Knowing HIV Status Encourages Local Black Elected Officials to Do the Same
(Washington, DC) – As part of the high profile mobilization to stop the spread of HIV/AIDS in the African American community and to emphasize the importance of regular testing in that fight, Congresswoman Barbara Lee (D-Oakland) and members of the Congressional Black Caucus (CBC) got tested for HIV at a mobile testing center outside of the Capitol building on Wednesday morning.
“We have to stop the devastation this disease is causing in our community, and promoting testing is a critical first step,” said Lee, who Co-Chairs the CBC Global HIV/AIDS Taskforce. “People need to know their status, and I will be working with local Black lawmakers and others to promote testing in the Bay Area.”
According to the Centers for Disease Control an estimated 250,000 people, more than one in four of those infected, have HIV and do not know it.
The HIV/AIDS epidemic is devastating the African American community. Today, African Americans account for nearly 50 percent of all people in the United States living with HIV/AIDS even though they represent about 12 percent of the population. African American women account for nearly 70 percent of new infections among women, and AIDS is now the leading cause of death for African American women between the ages of 25-34.
The event comes in the immediate wake of new testing recommendations issued by the Centers for Disease Control, and on the heels of the XVI WORLD AIDS Conference in Toronto, where African American leaders from the United States announced a national call to action to end the AIDS epidemic in black America.
As part of that effort, Lee recently held a forum in Oakland designed to raise awareness about the toll the disease is taking on the African American community and to foster community involvement in stopping its spread.
She has introduced resolutions recognizing the goals of National HIV Testing Day, and in 2005 the House of Representatives passed her resolution supporting the goals of National Black AIDS Awareness Day. She has introduced legislation aimed at ensuring continuing care and treatment for Gulf Coast residents living with HIV/AIDS who were displaced by hurricanes Katrina and Rita, and recently introduced legislation to allow the distribution of condoms in federal prisons and to develop a strategy to reduce HIV and other STIs in prisons.
As the lead author of the Global AIDS and Tuberculosis Relief Act of 2000 and the principal co-author of legislation establishing the President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR), Congresswoman Barbara Lee’s accomplishments in promoting effective, bipartisan measures to stop the spread of HIV/AIDS and bring treatment to those living with HIV/AIDS have earned her international recognition as a leader in the fight against the HIV/AIDS pandemic.
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