Washington, D.C. — Five of the nation’s leading organizations focused on ending the HIV, STD, and hepatitis epidemics in the United States — AIDS United, NASTAD, the National Coalition of STD Directors, NMAC, and The AIDS Institute — today issued the following statement in response to the ongoing 2020 election results:
“Over the last four years, we have seen the fight to end HIV take on greater urgency with the launch of the Ending the HIV Epidemic initiative designed to reduce new HIV transmissions by 90 percent by 2030. At the same time, STD rates have continued to reach historic levels, new cases of Hepatitis have continued to climb, President Trump has spent the last four years attacking and undermining the Affordable Care Act (ACA) which provides lifesaving health care to millions of Americans, and a global pandemic continues to devastate our communities.
We call on Congress and the incoming Biden Administration to not only protect and expand the ACA, but build a strong and robust public health infrastructure that addresses our country’s ongoing health emergencies and systemic racism. The science is clear – we can end these epidemics. But to do so, we must create a better system that provides access to comprehensive testing, treatment and prevention services, free of discrimination and stigma.
We will hold the new Administration and Congress accountable and demand that they address racism as the public health crisis that it is. Through our decades of work, we have seen firsthand the devastating effects white supremacy has on health outcomes. President-elect Biden has committed to working toward ending structural racism, and we look forward to working together to strengthen public health and improve outcomes for underserved and at-risk communities by increasing federal funding, ending homelessness, passing comprehensive criminal justice reform, ensuring equal rights and protections for LGBTQ Americans, fighting for racial justice, and addressing the opioid epidemic.”