|
ACTION ALERT!
Call Your Senators: Support HIV/AIDS Prevention for Men Who Have Sex with Men Worldwide
The clock is ticking on the U.S. Global Leadership Against HIV/AIDS, Tuberculosis, and Malaria Reauthorization Act of 2008 (S. 2731), also known as PEPFAR 2.
The bill has overwhelming bipartisan support in Congress and the enthusiasm of the White House but is stuck in the Senate.
Please call your Senators today and ask them to support pass a robust reauthorization of PEPFAR this summer, including the provisions to:
- promote prevention messages designed to reach men who have sex with men (MSM) to decrease new infections in this population; and
- gather data to better understand HIV among MSM in Africa, the former Soviet Union and elsewhere
Call the U.S. Capitol switchboard at (202) 224-3121 or click here to find the phone number for your senator.
Between 5-10 percent of all HIV infections worldwide result from sexual transmission between men, according to UNAIDS. Research is especially important in the former Soviet Union and Africa, where homosexuality is largely underground and little epidemiological research exists. Earlier this month at the United Nations High Level Meeting on AIDS, African political and public health leaders called for prevention specifically designed for MSM and increased research on the subject. The urgent call to action followed the presentation of study findings at the Securing Our Future: Report of the Commission on HIV/AIDS and Governance in Africa report release co-chaired by Kenneth Kaunda, former President of Zambia, and Pascoal Mocumbi, former Prime Minister of Mozambique. The report exposes the role of stigma, discrimination, and criminalization of homosexuality in the AIDS crisis and calls for:
- protection of human rights;
- promotion of safer sexual behavior among these groups and their partners; and
- implementation of policies and legal frameworks that do not criminalize and discriminate against homosexuals.
Your phone call today will support communities most at risk worldwide and the political leadership wise enough to meet their needs in ways that will end the AIDS crisis.
Take Action!
© 2008 Gay Men's Health Crisis
|
home 
