FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Thursday, November 14, 2002 |
Contact:
|
HRSA Press Office
(301) 443-3376 |
HHS Creates Unified HIV/AIDS and STD Advisory Committee
to Strengthen Prevention and Treatment Efforts
HHS Secretary Tommy G. Thompson today announced the creation of a new,
unified HIV/AIDS and STD prevention and treatment advisory committee
to strengthen collaboration in these activities throughout the department.
The new committee merges the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's
Advisory Committee for HIV and STD Prevention (ACHSP) and the Health
Resources and Services Administration's AIDS Advisory Committee (HAAC)
into a single advisory panel. All current members of both committees
will become members of the new committee. Both committees advise HHS
on AIDS and STD prevention, care and treatment issues and have occasionally
met jointly over the past two years.
“This merger puts the best of both worlds – prevention and treatment
– together for the benefit of all who are affected by this illness,”
Secretary Thompson said. “Uniting the top people from both fields in
a one committee will spark greater ingenuity and improved coordination
as we continue our war against the national and global menace of HIV
and AIDS.”
The merged committee will advise the Secretary, CDC, and HRSA on the
full range of issues addressed by the existing committees. This will
include identifying objectives, strategies, policies and priorities
for HIV/AIDS and STD prevention, care and treatment efforts. The merger
is intended to encourage even greater inter-agency synergy across the
spectrum of prevention and care.
“Combining these committees will make us more efficient, more innovative,
and more accurate in targeting our efforts against HIV/AIDS,” said Elizabeth
M. James Duke, Ph.D, Administrator of the Health Resources and Services
Administration (HRSA). “We applaud the Secretary’s decision and are
delighted to join CDC in this enterprise.”
“It makes perfect sense to integrate these two important committees.
As a former AIDS clinician, I fully appreciate the close interrelationship
between prevention and treatment,” said Dr. Julie Gerberding, Director
of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).
As the merger begins, each of the existing HRSA and CDC committees
will meet one last time. Then, beginning in 2003, the newly chartered
Advisory Committee will meet approximately twice per year.
The CDC/HRSA Advisory Committee on HIV and STD Prevention and Treatment
will continue to consist of members knowledgeable in the fields of public
health, epidemiology, laboratory practice, immunology, infectious disease
treatment, drug abuse, behavioral science, health education, health
care delivery, and community health center management.
|
