BARAThere are 40 million people across the planet infected with HIV/AIDS, including more than 1 million people in

the U.S., with nearly 8,000 people dying every day of AIDS. Barack Obama believes that we must do more to

fight the global HIV/AIDS pandemic, as well as malaria and tuberculosis. In 2006, Obama traveled to Kenya

and, along with his wife Michelle, took an HIV/AIDS test to encourage African men and women to be tested for

the disease. Obama believes in working across party lines to combat this epidemic and joined Senator Sam

Brownback (R-KS) at a large California evangelical church to promote greater investment in the global AIDS

battle. As president, Obama will continue to be a global leader in the fight against AIDS.CK OBAMA’S PLAN TO COMBAT GLOBAL HIV/AIDSHIV/AIDS IN AMERICA

Develop a National HIV/AIDS Strategy: Obama has pledged that, in the first year of his presidency, he will

develop and begin to implement a comprehensive national HIV/AIDS strategy that includes all federal agencies.

The strategy will be designed to reduce HIV infections, increase access to care, and reduce HIV-related health

disparities. His strategy will include measurable goals, timelines, and accountability mechanisms.

Fix the Nation’s Health Care System: 47 million Americans are uninsured in this country. Barack Obama is

committed to signing universal health care legislation by the end of his first term in office that ensures all

Americans have high-quality, affordable health care coverage. Obama’s plan will save a typical American

family up to $2,500 every year on medical expenditures by providing affordable, comprehensive and portable

health coverage for every American; modernizing the U.S. health care system to contain spiraling health care

costs and improve the quality of patient care; and promoting prevention and strengthening public health to

prevent disease and protect against natural and man-made disasters. His health plan will ensure that people

living with HIV have access to lifesaving treatment and care.

Fight Disparities: HIV has hit some communities harder than others. For example, while African-Americans

make up 13 percent of the U.S. population, they make up 49 percent of new HIV/AIDS cases. AIDS is the

leading cause of death in African-American women aged 25-34, and the third leading cause of death in African-

American men in the same age group. In 2005, 64 percent of women living with HIV/AIDS were black.

Obama will tackle the root causes of health disparities by addressing differences in access to health coverage

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and promoting prevention and public health, both of which play a major role in addressing disparities. He will

also challenge the medical system to eliminate inequities in health care through quality measurement and

reporting, implementation of effective interventions such as patient navigation programs and diversification of

the health workforce.

Improve Quality of Life for Those Living with HIV/AIDS: Obama is a strong supporter of the Ryan White

Care Act (RWCA), which provides critical access to life-saving treatment and care for over half a million lowincome

Americans with HIV/AIDS. The RWCA is one of the largest sources of federal funds for primary

health care and support services for patients with HIV/AIDS. The bill was named after Ryan White, an Indiana

teenager whose courageous struggle with HIV/AIDS helped educate the nation. Throughout the reauthorization

process of the RWCA, Obama worked closely with RWCA service providers, the Chicago Department of

Public Health, and the Illinois Department of Public Health to analyze and find ways to improve the program

for Illinois and for the nation. Obama will continue to protect the multifaceted care upon which RWCA

beneficiaries depend.

Assure Adequate and Safe Housing for Those Living With HIV: Obama supports increased funding for

Housing Opportunities for People with AIDS (HOPWA) and other pertinent housing programs. These

programs aim to assure that adequate and safe housing is available for all disabled and low-income people with

HIV/AIDS in the U.S.

Expand Funding for Research: Barack Obama will expand funding for research, especially for prevention

options including a vaccine and microbicides. Microbicides are a class of products currently under

development that women apply topically to prevent transmission of HIV and other infections. Obama led an

effort with Senator Olympia Snowe (R-ME) and others to introduce the Microbicide Development Act, which

will accelerate the development of products that empower women in the battle against AIDS. In the United

States, the percentage of women diagnosed with AIDS has quadrupled over the last 20 years. Today, women

account for more than one quarter of all new HIV/AIDS diagnoses.

Promote AIDS Prevention: In addition to assuring access to treatment, Obama believes we need to increase

the focus on preventing new infections. We cannot keep pace with treatment needs if we don’t also focus on

prevention. This means pursuing a strategy that relies on sound science and builds on what works. Obama

supports comprehensive sex education that is age-appropriate. He supports increasing federal appropriations for

science-based HIV prevention programs. Obama supports the JUSTICE Act, which would prevent transmission

of HIV within the incarcerated population. He also supports legislation that would lift the ban on federal

funding for needle exchange as a strategy to reduce HIV transmission among injection drug users and their

partners and children.

Bring Medicaid Coverage to Low-Income, HIV-Positive Americans: Obama is a co-sponsor of the Early

Treatment of HIV Act, which would provide Medicaid coverage to more low-income, HIV-positive Americans.

GLOBAL HIV/AIDS

Reauthorize and Revise PEPFAR: The U.S. has dramatically increased funding for global HIV and AIDS

programs through the President’s Emergency Program for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR), but the program has faced

controversy. Obama believes that our first priority should be to reauthorize PEPFAR when it expires in 2008

and rewrite much of the bill to allow best practices – not ideology – to drive funding for HIV/AIDS programs.

In addition, Obama supports adding an additional $1 billion a year in new money over the next five years to

strengthen and expand the program to Southeast Asia, India, and Eastern Europe, where the pandemic is

expanding.

Increase Investments for HIV Treatment: Barack Obama is committed to increasing U.S. investments in the

capacity building needed to ensure that poor countries are able to develop the health care infrastructure

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necessary to prevent and treat HIV/AIDS, promote basic health care, reduce the spread of malaria and TB, and

prevent and, if necessary, contain the spread of avian flu and other pandemics.

RACK OBAM

A’S PLAN TO COMBAT GLOBAL HIV/AIDS