Advocates' Letter to Congress
Supports Microbicide Development Act
12 February 2007
| The Honorable Barack Obama United States Senate Washington, DC 20510 |
The Honorable Olympia J. Snowe United States Senate Washington, DC 20510 |
| The Honorable Christopher Shays House of Representatives Washington, DC 20515 |
The Honorable Janice D. Schakowsky House of Representatives Washington, DC 20515 |
Dear Senators Obama and Snowe; Representatives Schakowsky and Shays:
We, the undersigned organizations, are grateful for your leadership and foresight in addressing the need for new HIV prevention methods by introducing the Microbicide Development Act in the 110th Congress.
Twenty-five years into the fight against AIDS, the epidemic has raged nearly unabated, with its epicenter shifting toward women and girls. Women now account for nearly half of adults living with HIV worldwide and comprise an estimated 59% of adults living with HIV in sub-Saharan Africa. In fact, being female, married and poor are often the most significant risk factors for acquiring HIV/AIDS. It is clear that current prevention methods are not sufficient and new tools must be developed and brought to market—especially alternative prevention tools that women can initiate. We urge you to take action on the Microbicide Development Act, an important bill that would expand research for microbicides—anti-HIV gels, creams, tablets or rings that women could use to protect themselves from infection. The Microbicide Development Act would establish a clearly defined structure at the National Institutes of Health dedicated to microbicide research and development and would strengthen microbicide activities at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the US Agency for International Development. Enactment would help focus, energize and accelerate the U.S. government’s research and development on microbicides.
As leaders committed to addressing the HIV/AIDS epidemic and promoting women’s health issues, we urge you to act with urgency to move the Microbicide Development Act forward in the 110th Congress.
Sincerely,
|
ACT UP Philadelphia, Philadelphia, PA Advocates for Youth, Washington, DC African American Women Evolving, Inc., Chicago, IL African Youth Outreach, Inc., Monona, WI AIDS Action Baltimore, Baltimore, MD AIDS Action Committee of Massachusetts, Inc., Boston, MA AIDS Action Council, Washington, DC AIDS Alabama, Birmingham, AL AIDS Alliance for Children, Youth & Families, Washington, DC AIDS Alliance for Faith and Health (AAFH), Atlanta, GA AIDS Foundation of Chicago, Chicago, IL AIDS Legal Council of Chicago, Chicago, IL AIDS Network of Southern Wisconsin, Madison, WI AIDS Policy Project, Philadelphia, PA AIDS Project Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA AIDS Project Rhode Island, Providence, RI AIDS Resource Center of Wisconsin, Wisconsin AIDS Survival Project, Atlanta, GA AIDS Taskforce of Greater Cleveland, Cleveland, OH AIDS Vaccine Advocacy Coalition (AVAC), New York, NY Alliance for Microbicide Development, Silver Spring, MD Allies Linked for the Prevention of HIV and AIDS (a.l.p.h.a.), Boise, ID American Jewish World Service, Washington, DC American Medical Student Association, Reston, VA American Medical Women's Association (AMWA), Alexandria, VA American Public Health Association, Washington, DC American Social Health Association, Research Triangle Park, NC Americans for UNFPA, New York, NY amfAR, The Foundation for AIDS Research, New York, NY Association of Nurses in AIDS Care, Akron, OH Association of Reproductive Health Professionals, Washington, DC Better Existence with HIV, Chicago, IL BIENESTAR, Southern California, Los Angeles, CA California Microbicide Initiative (CaMI), Folsom, CA Catholics for a Free Choice, Washington, DC Center for Health and Gender Equity (CHANGE), Takoma Park, MD Center for Women Policy Studies, Washington, DC Chicago Coalition for Microbicides, Chicago, IL Chicago Foundation for Women, Chicago, IL Chicago Women's AIDS Project, Chicago, IL Chicago Women's Health Center, Chicago, IL Community HIV/AIDS Mobilization Project – CHAMP, Providence, RI Community HIV/Hepatitis Advocates of Iowa Network (CHAIN), West Des Moines, IA Conant Foundation, San Francisco, CA Connecticut AIDS Resource Coalition, Hartford, CT Connecticut Microbicides Now!, New Haven, CT Family Planning Council, Philadelphia, PA Feminist Caucus of the American Humanist Association, Washington, DC Feminist Majority Foundation, Arlington, VA Gay Men's Health Crisis, New York, NY Global Campaign for Microbicides, Washington, DC Global Girls, Chicago, IL Global Network of People with AIDS – North America Chapter (GNP+NA), Washington, DC Guttmacher Institute, New York, NY Harm Reduction Coalition, New York, NY Health Federation of Philadelphia, Philadelphia, PA Health GAP (Global Access Project), USA Healthy Teen Network, Washington, DC HIV Law Project, New York, NY HIVictorious, Inc., Madison, WI Housing Works, Brooklyn, NY Howard Area Community Center, Chicago, IL Howard Brown Health Center, Chicago, IL Human Rights Campaign, Washington, DC Ibis Reproductive Health, Cambridge, MA Illinois Caucus for Adolescent Health, Chicago, IL |
Institute for Reproductive Health Access, New York, NY International AIDS Vaccine Initiative, New York, NY International Center for Research on Women, Washington, DC International Partnership for Microbicides, Silver Spring, MD International Planned Parenthood Federation/Western Hemisphere Region, New York, NY International Training and Education Center on HIV (ITECH), Seattle, WA International Women's Health Coalition, New York, NY John Snow, Inc., Boston, MA Junior League of Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA L.A. Gay & Lesbian Center, Los Angeles, CA Legal Momentum, Washington, DC LifeGuard, Rock Island, IL Lifelong AIDS Alliance, Seattle, WA Mujeres Latinas en Acción, Chicago, IL Nashville CARES, Nashville, TN National Abortion Federation, Washington, DC National AIDS Fund, Washington, DC National Alliance of State and Territorial AIDS Directors, Washington, DC National Coalition for LGBT Health, Washington, DC National Coalition of STD Directors, Washington, DC National Council of Jewish Women, Washington, DC National Minority AIDS Council (NMAC), Washington, DC National Organization for Women (NOW), Washington, DC National Women's Health Network, Washington, DC New York AIDS Coalition, New York, NY Ohio AIDS Coalition, Columbus, OH Okaloosa AIDS Support and Informational Services, Inc., Ft. Walton Beach, FL Physicians for Human Rights, Cambridge, MA Planned Parenthood Federation of America, Washington, DC Planned Parenthood/Chicago Area, Chicago, IL Planned Parenthood of Connecticut, New Haven, CT Population Action International, Washington, DC Population Council, New York, NY Program for Appropriate Technologies in Health (PATH), Seattle, WA Project Inform, San Francisco, CA Reproductive Health Technologies Project, Washington, DC San Francisco AIDS Foundation, San Francisco, CA Sexuality Information and Education Council of the United States (SIECUS), Washington, DC SisterSong, Atlanta, GA Someone Cares, Inc. of Atlanta, Smyrna, GA South Carolina Campaign to End AIDS (SC-c2ea), Columbia, SC The AIDS Institute - Washington, DC, Washington, DC The Fenway Institute of Fenway Community Health, Boston, MA The Regional AIDS Project, Manhattan, KS The Well Project, Atlanta, GA The Women's Collective, Washington, DC Title II Community AIDS National Network (TII CANN), Washington, DC Treatment Access Expansion Project, Silver Spring, MD Treatment Action Group (TAG), New York, NY Ugandan American Nakuwadde Mission Project, Inc. (UANMP), West Hartford, CT United Methodist Church, General Board of Church & Society, Washington, DC Western North Carolina AIDS Project, Asheville, NC Women Organized to Respond to Life-threatening Diseases (WORLD), Oakland, CA Women, Gender, and Sexuality Studies Program at Central Connecticut State University, New Britain, CT Women's HIV Collaborative of New York, New York, NY Young Women's Empowerment Project-Chicago, Chicago, IL Youth Pride Center, Chicago, IL |
Please address any further correspondence to:
Pam Norick, International Partnership for Microbicides pnorick@ipm-microbicides.org
Polly Harrison, Alliance for Microbicide Development pharrison@microbicide.org
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