Title: Message from the Chair

Author:

Section/SPIG: HIV/AIDS

Issue Date:

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As we gear up for the November APHA Annual Meeting in San Francisco, there are many accomplishments that the HIV/AIDS Section can look back upon. Our membership—alone among all APHA sections—has continued to grow (with 653 primary members as of March 31), and as a result, the number of Section representatives on the APHA Governing Council will increase after the meeting from two to three. We had a record number of abstracts submitted for the program and will have a record number of scientific sessions — 20 in all. Michael Case has ably shaped the meeting, which will also include our usual Sunday and Tuesday night social events (following our business meetings) as well as a Section orientation breakfast on Monday morning. Carol Dawson Rose and Michael Reyes have made the arrangements for our social events; new Section members will be welcomed at all of them. Merv Silverman of amfAR will be our featured speaker at the Tuesday evening social.

Under the guidance of Angela Powell, our Policy Chair, the Section has submitted two policy proposals to APHA Governing Council, one on Prevention with Positives and the other (in cooperation with the International Health Section) on supporting increased investments in bilateral and multilateral programs to address the HIV/AIDS, TB and malaria epidemics in developing countries (see article titled “2003 policies”). We also discussed the possibility of a future initiative opposing abstinence-only prevention education, whose political support is not grounded in scientific evidence. To strengthen the growing ties between our International Health Workgroup, facilitated by Titi Oladosu-Okoror, and the International Health Section, the two groups will have a networking meeting on Sunday afternoon at the APHA Annual Meeting. Stephanie Taylor, our Membership chair, and Wilson Lo, our Student Involvement chair, have worked with the APHA Student Caucus to institute a mentorship program that matches newer with more experienced public health professionals. I urge you to participate in this program (see article titled “Mentoring Program”).

At a midyear meeting at APHA Headquarters in D.C. in early May, Section leaders met with APHA staff members (including Fran Atkinson, APHA’s new Section Affairs Manager; Barbara Reck, Membership Director; Kelly O’Brien, Affiliate Affairs; Don Hoppert, Government Relations; Lakitia Mayo, Grassroots Advocacy; Kim Krisberg, Assistant Editor of The Nation’s Health; and Dr. Georges Benjamin, Executive Director). We discussed matters of mutual interest, including how to develop a database of experts on various HIV/AIDS issues who could help APHA develop responses on emerging public health issues. At the meeting, under the guidance of Kathye Gorosh (our Action Board representative), the leadership group also met with Rob Janssen, Eva Siler, and Pamela Dougherty of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to learn and ask questions about the Center’s new prevention initiatives (see article titled “Section Leaders Meet with CDC Representatives…”). On the strength of that discussion, the Section has developed a late-breaker session for the APHA Annual Meeting to present and discuss various perspectives on the CDC’s initiatives and their likely consequences (see article titled “HIV/AIDS Program in San Francisco”).

Other decisions made included migrating the Section’s listserv, now hosted by Oregon Health and Sciences University (under the direction of David Rosenstein), to the APHA sometime this fall. A decision earlier in the year approved getting a second URL, <www.aphahiv.org>, for the Section’s website, previously accessible only through <www.apha-hivaids.org>. The latter will also remain operational for at least two more years. We intend to improve the Web site’s functionality in the coming months. Scott Smith and Kim Mansfield have been developing the Web site, and Scott will serve as next year’s program chair for the Section.

This is my last column as chair of the Section; Susan Fulmer will assume the helm after the November APHA Annual Meeting. I would like to express my appreciation to those of you with whom I have served in the Section leadership for your many and ongoing contributions, and to all of the Section’s members for providing me with an opportunity to serve the Section. I look forward to our continuing to work together to help give voice to issues and perspectives that will help to stem the spread of the HIV epidemic and provide access to care and support services to all who are touched by it, both here and abroad.