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National Minority Health Month Foundation Calls on Congress to Modernize, Pass Ryan White CARE Act

Posted on: Monday, 5 June 2006, 18:00 CDT

COLUMBUS, Ohio, June 5 /PRNewswire/ -- The National Minority Health Month Foundation marked the 25th anniversary of the first documented AIDS cases by calling upon Congress to immediately modernize and pass the Ryan White CARE Act. The CARE Act, which expired last September, supports access to HIV/AIDS treatment and care.

"On June 5, 1981 the first cases of AIDS were documented and in the last 25 years, the face of this epidemic has changed dramatically," said Dr. Gary Puckrein, executive director of the National Minority Health Month Foundation.

The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has reported that almost 75% of the new reported HIV cases in the United States are among minorities. Additionally, AIDS has moved from large cities to rural communities, particularly in the South. According to the CDC, in 2004, 55% of new African American AIDS cases occurred in the South.

"Sadly, the money is not following the disease and a domestic AIDS policy overhaul is long overdue," continued Puckrein. "Today under the CARE Act, lifesaving medicines and critical services are available, but not always accessible to everyone in need."

The CDC also estimates that 850,000 to 950,000 people in the United States are living with HIV. Of these, 180,000 to 280,000 do not know they are infected.

"Almost a third of those American's infected with HIV have not been tested for the disease and do not know they have it," Puckrein said. "Not only are they passing the virus on to others, they are not receiving the treatment they urgently need to avoid developing AIDS."

"The CARE Act does not address this dangerous gap," continued Puckrein. "Our nation's most comprehensive AIDS legislation must include a testing component to ensure that all those infected receive lifesaving medical care."

About the National Minority Health Month Foundation

Founded as a nonprofit organization in 1998, the National Minority Health Month Foundation was established to strengthen national and local efforts to eliminate the disproportionate burden of premature death and preventable illness in racial and ethnic minorities and other special populations through the use of evidence-based, data-driven initiatives. The Foundation has developed a comprehensive relational data platform for identifying the prevalence of health-status and health-care disparities at the zip-code level. This centralized data warehouse allows the Foundation to house vital statistics; demographic, environmental, claims, prescription-drug, and clinical-laboratory values; health-care access points, and other data. The Foundation is thus able to measure and forecast health status in small geographic areas, evaluate the impact of specific interventions, monitor changes in health outcomes, and serve as a valuable resource for the health- disparities movement.

National Minority Health Month Foundation

CONTACT: Mike Carey of Move Ohio, +1-614-264-1694, for National MinorityHealth Month Foundation

Source: PRNewswire

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