A Veteran Emory AIDS Researcher Looks At President Trump’s New Initiative
President Donald Trump gives his State of the Union address Tuesday to a joint session of Congress as Vice President Mike Pence and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi look on. During the address, Trump vowed to pour new money into the fight against HIV/AIDS, with a goal of winning the battle by 2030. Four metro Atlanta counties are among the locations targeted in the initiative.
Doug Mills / The New York Times via AP, Pool
In his State of the Union message, President Donald Trump vowed to pour new money into the fight against HIV/AIDS, with a goal of winning the battle by 2030. The initiative would focus on what are called “geographic hot spots,” where HIV infection rates remain persistently high.
Among the 48 counties targeted, four are in metro Atlanta: Fulton, DeKalb, Cobb and Gwinnett.
The goal is better coordination among federal, state and local agencies in helping people get screened and treated for HIV. But the Department of Health and Human Services could not provide WABE with specifics on the amount of funding or the specifics of the initiative in the Atlanta area.
On “All Things Considered,” WABE’s Denis O’Hayer spoke with someone who has been involved with the HIV/AIDS fight for decades. Dr. James Curran is dean and professor of epidemiology at Emory University’s Rollins School of Public Health and co-director of the Emory Center for AIDS Research.
He spent 25 years at the Atlanta-based Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, where he headed the HIV/AIDS division, starting in 1981.
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