Congresswoman Barbara Lee Joins Speaker Pelosi, State and Local Officials, and Community Advocates for Press Conference Kicking Off the 23rd International AIDS Conference (AIDS 2020) to be held in Oakland and San Francisco
OAKLAND, CA – Today, Congresswoman Barbara Lee joined 23rd International AIDS Conference (AIDS 2020) organizers, community leaders, state and local elected officials, and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi for the first public media event highlighting the planning and preparation for AIDS 2020. The event focused on what to expect at AIDS 2020 and the unique and large-scale collaborative effort that took place between Oakland and San Francisco to secure the bid to host the world’s largest conference on HIV and AIDS. About 85 people attended the event at the Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation. Other speakers included Speaker Pelosi, State Senator Scott Wiener, San Francisco Mayor London Breed, Oakland Mayor Libby Schaaf, and AIDS 2020 local co-chairs Cynthia Carey-Grant and Monica Gandhi.
“As Co-Founder and Co-Chair of the Congressional HIV & AIDS Caucus, I am thrilled to be welcoming the 23rd International AIDS Conference to the Bay Area next year,” said Congresswoman Lee. “We’ve made fantastic progress in the fight against HIV and AIDS, but the fight is far from over. This conference is an incredible opportunity to highlight the work that remains and the unique contributions of Oakland and San Francisco to ending the epidemic at home and abroad.”
Congresswoman Lee, along with Oakland Mayor Libby Schaaf, wrote to the International AIDS Society in May 2017 urging the organization to host AIDS 2020 in Oakland and San Francisco. Congresswoman Lee also played a lead role in working to end the national travel ban against people living with HIV, which allowed the International AIDS Conference to be held in Washington, DC, in 2012.
In the lead up to AIDS 2020, Congresswoman Lee will work to expand the work of the Congressional HIV & AIDS Caucus and organize briefings for members of Congress and their staff regarding HIV & AIDS and what to expect from the conference. She also plans to organize a delegation of members to attend the conference next summer.
In July, Congresswoman Lee hosted CDC Director Dr. Robert Redfield in Oakland for a meeting with stakeholders on addressing the HIV & AIDS epidemic in Oakland. She also penned an op-ed on the need for increased federal funding to address the HIV & AIDS epidemic in the Bay Area Reporter earlier this month. You can read that op-ed here.
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