Douglas Brooks is the right person to lead the National fight against HIV&AIDS — For all the right reasons
The Black AIDS Institute applauds President Obama and congratulates Douglas Brooks on his appointment as the new director of the White House Office on National AIDS Policy. Given both the promise and the challenges surrounding the HIV/AIDS epidemic, President Obama could not have selected a better person to lead the next phase in the effort to end the AIDS epidemic in the United States. Brooks brings both the personal experience and the professional and technical expertise to move us closer toward our goal of an AIDS-free generation.
In a post-Affordable Care Act world-one in which biomedical interventions play an ever-increasing role in an epidemic that continues to ravage communities of color at a disproportionate rate-having an HIV-positive Black gay man with tremendous experience in the field will be extremely valuable. Brooks brings both credentials and experience to this table-as a social worker, as a manager, as an advocate and as a policy maker. Having served on the President’s Advisory Council on HIV/AIDS (PACHA) and having co-chaired PACHA’s health disparities subcommittee, Brooks is no stranger to Washington and he is completely committed to ending HIV health disparities in our country. He is not just a friend of the HIV/AIDS community. He is a fully vested member of this community.
We look forward to working with Mr. Brooks and the administration as we move quickly towards a day in the United States, in the words of President Obama, “where new HIV infections are rare and when they do occur, every person, regardless of age, gender, race/ethnicity, sexual orientation, gender identity or socio-economic circumstance, will have unfettered access to high quality, life-extending care, free from stigma and discrimination.”
Phill Wilson is the president and CEO of the Black AIDS Institute, the only National HIV/AIDS think tank in the United States focused exclusively on Black people. Follow him on twitter @iamphillwilson. Wilson is also available for interviews and press inquiries. Contact (213) 353-3610 ext 105 or phillwilson@blackaids.org.
About the Black AIDS Institute — Founded in May of 1999, the Black AIDS Institute (www.blackaids.org) is the only national HIV/AIDS think tank in the United States focused exclusively on Black people. The Institute’s Mission is to stop the AIDS pandemic in Black communities by engaging and mobilizing Black institutions and individuals in efforts to confront HIV. The Institute interprets public and private sector HIV policies, conducts trainings, offers technical assistance, disseminates information and provides advocacy and mobilization from a uniquely and unapologetically Black point of view. www.blackaids.org
