Posts Tagged ‘AIDS’

Jamie
Kuchinski

HIV/AIDS in DC: 30 years and still a communications issue

Monday, June 27th, 2011

Last Tuesday I attended the Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation panel discussion which took a long hard look at the HIV/AIDS epidemic in the U.S. The panel, “AIDS at 30,” celebrated the progress of the 30-year HIV/AIDS battle, but also questioned how to end AIDS once and for all. While there’s no simple solution, the panel members explored how Americans can prevent the disease from taking more lives and shaving years off the lives of others.

Before the panel discussion, Jeff Crowley, Director of the Office of National AIDS Policy, spoke about the government’s National HIV/AIDS Strategy’s (NHAS) current progress. Twenty-one million dollars has already been set aside for the NHAS and several departments are coordinating policies and operational plans to address the epidemic. This ambitious plan, only a year old, aims to:

  • Reduce new infections
  • Increase access to care
  • Improve health outcomes for people with HIV
  • Reduce HIV-related health disparities

… all by 2015.

(more…)

Posted in Chronic Disease, Community Involvement, Disease Awareness, Health Policy
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Tonique
Heaven

Gaming That Changes Lives, Part I

Wednesday, June 30th, 2010

I was very intrigued when I first heard about the “Games for Change” effort that is taking shape in the United States. Games that don’t just entertain but educate and foster understanding and social change – I thought it was a fascinating idea. But when I sat in on the “Games for Change & Health Workshop: Brainstorming and Game Design Jam for HIV/AIDS” for Digital Capital Week, I was floored. The workshop, hosted by Spectrum, aimed to educate attendees on HIV/AIDS and “edu-gaming.” And, in doing so, supply them with the knowledge to conceptualize video games that could help a variety of audiences better understand HIV/AIDS in Washington, D.C. and around the world. You can watch the live stream of the event in our DC Week video archives.

Two of our panel speakers – David Phillips, an information governance contractor at The National Institutes of Health, and Justin Goforth, RN, Director of Medical Adherence Unit and STD Services, Whitman Walker Clinic – were extremely educated on the HIV/AIDS pandemic. Before delving into the gaming aspect, they introduced the hard hitting facts of the virus. After all, we need to know the subject matter before we could brainstorm about the game. (more…)

Posted in Disease Awareness, Health 2.0, Infectious Disease, Technology
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MaggieSchmerin
Maggie
Schmerin

Spectrum To Host Free DC Week Event: Games for Change & Health – Brainstorming and Game Design Jam for HIV/AIDS

Friday, June 11th, 2010

dcweek2010-320Spectrum is excited to help kick-off Digital Capital Week, by hosting “Games for Change & Health Workshop: Brainstorming and Game Design Jam for HIV/AIDS” on Monday from 12 p.m. to 4 p.m. at our K Street office. 

Video games are said to be extremely effective when designed to address a specific problem or teach a certain skill, where clear objectives can be stated and when deployed selectively within a context relevant to the learning activity and goal.

This workshop will give attendees knowledge about HIV/AIDS and “edu-gaming” – creating video games for an educational purpose – and attendees will work together to conceptualize video games which could help a variety of audiences better understand HIV/AIDS in Washington, D.C. and around the world. 

To register to attend this free workshop, click here.

Let the gaming begin!

Posted in Disease Awareness, Health 2.0, Infectious Disease, New Media, Social Media
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Infectious Disease
Infectious
Disease

Spectrum Infection Thursday: Shining a Spotlight on Malaria – Part II

Thursday, April 1st, 2010

I’ve been thinking for the last few days about a blog post that Brennan Gamwell, one of our interns, wrote last week on the Full Spectrum Blog. He wrote, “An estimated 250 million people are infected with malaria each year, and nearly one million die. The toll of the disease is most notable in Sub-Saharan Africa, where between two and four percent of individuals are infected, and where the mortality rate climbs even higher due to a substantial number of co-infections with HIV/AIDS.”

I wanted to expand on that because it contains an interesting fact, and leaves us with something to ponder. And that is, if we could improve prevention, diagnosis and treatment of TB and malaria, some estimate that we could potentially reduce the number of people dying with AIDS by about half. In 2008, two million people died with AIDS. That means that about two million people who died in 2008 and 2009 would be alive today, including many children in the developing world. 

TB and malaria are both preventable and curable conditions, and we have made enormous strides in malaria prevention and treatment. But much more needs to be done. ONE, the global grassroots advocacy organization characterizes the challenge: ”While the world has battled malaria and TB for centuries, the immense human toll of AIDS in the late 1990s injected a new urgency into the need to enhance prevention and treatment efforts. Though the resources to fight these diseases have increased exponentially in recent years, funding remains too little and too slow in coming. Moreover, weak health systems have limited success in the fight against these diseases, especially in sub-Saharan Africa.” (more…)

Posted in Disease Awareness, Infectious Disease
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Infectious Disease
Infectious
Disease

Rockin’ the Red Pump for HIV/AIDS

Monday, March 15th, 2010

The Full Spectrum Blog is rockin’ the red pump in support of National Women and Girls HIV/AIDS Awareness Day, which was held on March 10. This nationwide initiative is celebrated every year during Women’s History Month to raise awareness of the increasing impact of HIV/AIDS on women and girls. March 10th is designated as a day to celebrate progress, but also serve as an annual reminder of the public health crisis facing our nation’s female population.

A few startling facts from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services:

  • Every 35 minutes, a woman tests positive for HIV in the United States[1]
  • About 1 in 4 Americans living with HIV are women[2]
  • HIV incidence rates for black women are nearly 15 times as high as that of white women, and nearly four times that of Hispanic women[3]
  • Approximately one in 30 black women will be diagnosed with HIV in their lifetime[4]

Last week, Spectrum staff attended a few local NWGHAAD events, including the HHS Office on Women’s Health event at the National Press Club. This event brought together some of the biggest names in the nation’s HIV/AIDS arena, including the U.S. Surgeon General. Vice Admiral Regina M. Benjamin reflected on both the nationwide extent of the disease and her personal experience with HIV/AIDS. She shared the distressing story of an HIV positive woman she worked with at a health clinic and the sad account of her own brother’s abrupt death due to the virus. Looking forward, she sees increased sex education in schools paring nicely with the federal government’s recently launched anti-obesity campaign. As funding is increased for physical education classes, more health courses, hopefully including sexual health, will be taught in the public school system. (more…)

Posted in Infectious Disease
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MaggieSchmerin
Maggie
Schmerin

Developing the Country’s HIV/AIDS Strategy

Thursday, March 4th, 2010

This is the first in our series titled “Spectrum Infectious Thursdays,” which will highlight pertinent issues in the infectious disease community.

Last week, I attended the Interagency Working Group Community Meeting for the National HIV/AIDS Strategy at the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS). The purpose of the event was to provide the public with an update on progress to date and the process that the interagency working group is following to develop the country’s first-ever National HIV/AIDS Strategy.

Hosted by the White House Office of National AIDS Policy (ONAP) and the Office of Public Health and Science (OPHS) at HHS, the meeting brought together approximately 200 attendees from a variety of vantage points – federal agencies, non-profit organizations, and concerned advocates.

President Obama meets with White House Office of National AIDS Policy Director of Jeffrey Crowley (Photo Credit: The White House)

President Obama meets with White House Office of National AIDS Policy Director Jeffrey Crowley (Photo Credit: The White House)

Although the United States has one of the worst HIV epidemics among industrialized nations, we have never adopted a coordinated nationwide response to preventing, treating and managing this disease. President Obama is committed to addressing HIV and has tasked ONAP, under the direction of Jeffrey Crowley, to develop a National HIV/AIDS Strategy. There are three goals for the strategy:
  • 1. Reduce the number of new HIV infections;
  • 2. Increase access to care for people living with HIV and optimize health outcomes; and
  • 3. Reduce HIV-related disparities. (more…)

Posted in Infectious Disease
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