After hearing this news, on US site Boston.com, that Douglas Brooks who has been living with HIV for over 20 years, was appointed to the Presidential Advisory Council on HIV/AIDS we felt we had to share it with you.
Brooks is an outspoken campaigner/activist on HIV related issues and seems like the ideal person, with the ideal experience to advice President Obama on his HIV policies. Lets hope that he can have a big impact on the United States, who have only recently revoked their HIV travel ban.
While we think it’s great that the United States have recognised the need for someone who is clearly experienced in issues surrounding HIV we do want to know what you think on this announcement.
What impact, if any do you think this will have on HIV policies in The United States and the rest of the world?
Do you feel that there is a need for HIV Positive people to be involved in any policy committee that is dealing with those issues??
Have a read of the article and let us know what you think…
Brooks named to AIDS Council
Mass activist joins Obama advisors
Douglas Brooks, an outspoken activist in Massachusetts who has been HIV-positive for 20 years, has been named to the Presidential Advisory Council on HIV/AIDS.
Brooks, who serves as vice president at the Justice Resource Institute in Boston, will work with Kathleen Sebelius, secretary of health and human services. The council will provide advice and recommendations to President Obama about national programs to reduce HIV infections and increase access to care.
Massachusetts has been at the forefront in HIV/AIDS policy by including those patients in the development and implementation of programs that affect them, Brooks said.
“It is right and good that we will be at the table to help lead the country in ending the pandemic,’’ he said in a statement announcing his nomination.
Governor Deval Patrick, who nominated Brooks, said that as a black gay man living with HIV, Brooks serves as a unique advocate for AIDS patients.
“Douglas is one of those rare individuals who has been able to combine a deep sense of his own identity . . . with a commitment to creative, energetic, and ongoing grassroots community organizing and the advancement of social justice,’’ Patrick said in the statement.
Brooks, a licensed social worker, has worked for decades in Boston and Provincetown on AIDS-related initiatives and is a visiting fellow at the McCormack Center for Social Policy at the University of Massachusetts Boston.
Internationally, he consults with South Africa’s Eastern Cape Province Department of Health and helped organize the first HIV-positive Consumer Conference in the Eastern Cape Province.
Brooks is also a board member of the Massachusetts League of Community Health Centers, the AIDS Action Council in Washington, D.C., and the National Black Gay Men’s Advocacy Coalition.
© Copyright 2010 Globe Newspaper Company.
http://www.boston.com/news/local/massachusetts/articles/2010/02/02/brooks_named_to_hivaids_council/
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