April 8, 2009
WASHINGTON, DC – Jesse Milan, Jr., Vice President of Altarum Institute and a prominent leader and advocate on HIV/AIDS issues, spoke at the White House Tuesday, April 7th as a part of the announcement of Act Against AIDS, a new national AIDS awareness communications campaign.
The new five-year campaign to raise awareness on AIDS was announced jointly by the White House, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The $45 million campaign marks the first federally funded national domestic HIV/AIDS campaign in almost 20 years. Milan joined Jeffrey S. Crowley, Director of the White House Office of National AIDS Policy, Director of the White House Domestic Policy Council Melody Barnes, leading civil rights and HIV/AIDS groups, and officials from the Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation to announce the first phase of the campaign.
“Act Against AIDS is a tremendous step forward and signals a new presidential level commitment to the U.S. AIDS epidemic. I applaud the return of federal support for science-based approaches to prevent new infections,” said Milan. “The partnerships in this program are exactly what we need to raise awareness of HIV/AIDS in heavily impacted communities. It will also confront stigma and discrimination head-on by sharing the stories of Americans living with HIV/AIDS. The new program will emphasize that a new HIV infection occurs in the United States every nine and a half minutes.”
A person living with HIV for 27 years, Milan has spoken and written extensively on HIV/AIDS issues. He is currently chairman of the Los Angeles-based Black AIDS Institute, from which he received the “Hero in the Struggle” award in 2008. From 2002-2007, Milan served as co-chair of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention/Health Resources and Services Administration Advisory Committee on HIV and STD Prevention and Treatments.
Milan joined Altarum Institute in the spring of 2008 and is the Director of the Institute’s Community Health Systems group.
Milan is available to discuss his views on the new AIDS policy with media. To schedule interviews, please contact Jeff Moore at 703-575-1215 or jeff.moore@altarum.org. For additional information about the new national AIDS awareness campaign, please contact the White House, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, or visit www.aids.gov or www.cdc.gov/nineandahalfminutes.
Contact Information
Jeff Moore703-575-1685
jeff.moore@altarum.org
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Altarum Institute (www.altarum.org) integrates objective research and client-centered consulting skills to deliver comprehensive, systems-based solutions that improve health and health care. A nonprofit serving clients in the public and private sectors, Altarum employs more than 400 individuals and is headquartered in Ann Arbor, Michigan with additional offices in the Washington, DC area; Sacramento, California; Atlanta, Georgia; Portland, Maine; and San Antonio, Texas.