Petrelis Files

(CDC's HIV Prevention Chief, Dr. Kevin Fenton)








CDC HIV Chief: "Gains in Reducing HIV"

I just love all the fantastic HIV data coming out from various parts of the country and around the world showing declines of new infections or a lowering of previous estimates. The new stats show remarkable similarities, and reporters are writing on the political manipulations of HIV figures by experts interested in maintaining and expanding funding streams from assorted donors.

We've read the Bay Area Reporter and the Los Angeles Times stories about drops in San Francisco, and the news in the Lakeland Ledger on Florida's falling numbers, and the pieces in the Washington Post regarding India's declines and the overestimates for Africa.

And now we can add an interview in the Advocate with the head of HIV prevention for the Centers for Disease Control, openly gay and black STD expert Dr. Kevin Fenton, in which he states the United State has also reduced HIV:

Q: As we mark the 25th anniversary of the AIDS epidemic, what message would you like to share?

A: It’s really important for us to build upon the successes we’ve had in combating the epidemic. We’ve made tremendous gains in reducing HIV.

That any CDC official now claims we've succeeded reducing HIV should not be just a throwaway response in a short interview. We deserve further explanation from Fenton and the CDC about the decrease in the nation's burden of HIV infections.

A quick glance at some of the CDC's web pages for current HIV transmissions reveals the federal health agency maintains 40,000 Americans are annually infected. Click here and here for CDC's official estimate.

If what Fenton says is true, and I sure do hope it is, more details about the HIV reductions should be forthcoming from him and his division at the CDC.