FLORIDA AIDS ACTION
PO Box 16705 - Tampa, FL 33687
(813) 232-5886 - Fax (813) 232-0857

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
MEDIA CONTACT:
MARY ANN T. GREEN (813) 974-4892
mgreen@floridaidsaction.org

FLORIDA AIDS ACTION TO HOST NATIONAL CAEAR COALITION MEETING

Tampa, FL - Florida AIDS Action (FLAA) is pleased to announce that the nonprofit AIDS organization will host the Communities Advocating Emergency AIDS Relief (CAEAR) Coalition Winter 2002 Business Meeting and 2nd Annual CAEAR Coalition Partnership Awards Dinner this December in Tampa, Florida.

Held December 6 and 7th at the Wyndham Harbour Island Hotel, Tampa, the CAEAR Coalition Business Meeting represents more than 300 grantees under Title I and Title III of the Ryan White CARE Act, including the 51 major metropolitan areas most adversely affected by the AIDS epidemic.

Jeanne White-Grinder, mother of deceased AIDS advocate Ryan White, will serve as keynote speaker for the 2nd Annual CAEAR Coalition Partnership Awards Dinner, set for December 6th at The Columbia Restaurant in Ybor City, Tampa's historic Cuban district.

"Florida AIDS Action is pleased to be able to host an event of this caliber," noted FLAA Executive Director Dr. Gene Copello. "The CAEAR Coalition is a leading voice in the national effort to provide care and treatment for the one million men, women and children in our nation living with HIV/AIDS." Copello continues, "Having Ryan White's mother here to speak adds poignancy to the fact that our battle with AIDS is far from over."

White will discuss her son Ryan's legacy, her personal AIDS advocacy experiences and join in a celebration of the 31st anniversary of Ryan's birth which is December 6th. Throughout the evening, participants will also enjoy the historic Cuban atmosphere of The Columbia Restuarant.

For the past ten years, the CAEAR Coalition has successfully led federal advocacy efforts for Ryan White CARE Act Title I and Title III appropriations. The CARE Act is a vital program that provides quality medical and social services to individuals living with HIV disease and also seeks out individuals not in care to encourage them to access the vital treatments they require.

According to Patricia Bass, CAEAR Coalition Chair, "CAEAR continues to focus on the needs of people living with HIV disease. The Title I and Title III programs provide access to quality care, and we will continue to advocate for adequate funding. We are looking forward to being in Florida, and to have our meeting and dinner scheduled on Ryan White's birthday."

Funds from this year's CAEAR Coalition Partnership Awards Dinner, being held the evening of December 6th, will benefit CAEAR's federal advocacy efforts. For more information on attending the December 6th Columbia Restaurant CAEAR Coalition Partnership Awards Dinner, please contact the CAEAR Coalition at 202-789-3565, or via email at info@caear.org.

To learn more about Florida AIDS Action, and for more information on how to become involved in AIDS advocacy work, please contact Florida AIDS Action by phone at: (813) 232-5886, or by email at: information@floridaaidsaction.org.

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FLORIDA AIDS ACTION
PO Box 16705 - Tampa, FL 33687
(813) 232-5886 - Fax (813) 232-0857

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
MEDIA CONTACT:
MARY ANN T. GREEN (813) 974-4892
mgreen@floridaidsaction.org

FLORIDA AIDS ACTION ENDORSES RAPID HIV TESTING

Tampa, FL - Florida AIDS Action (FLAA), Florida's only statewide AIDS organization, joins more than 90 health and HIV/AIDS organizations across the nation calling on the federal Food Drug Administration (FDA) to endorse rapid HIV testing with a Clinical Laboratories Improvement Act (CLIA) waiver.

Rapid tests, nearly stamped with the FDA approval, are unique because they provide results within twenty minutes whereas current HIV test results can take up to two weeks. "The goal for rapid testing, from our perspective, is to provide someone with their status nearly instantly and immediately link them with care," notes FLAA's Director of Education and Training Petera Johnson-Hopson.

"Nearly 8,000 people annually test positive for HIV but never return to the testing site for their results," explains Dr. Gene Copello, Executive Director of FLAA. "We are trying to win a war and we've been shown this wonderful new tool and now we're being told we may not be able to use it in the most effective manner possible."

Controversy around rapid testing continues to focus not on the tests themselves, but rather on who should be allowed to administer rapid tests. Opponents to the CLIA Waiver, which allows for broad-based rapid testing, feel that testing should remain in formal clinical operations, eliminating the potential for outreach testing through local health departments and community organizations experienced in HIV testing and counseling. The intent of rapid testing is to reach communities most at-risk for HIV and the hardest to reach.

Florida AIDS Action, public health officials, health organizations and other AIDS advocates are urging acceptance of rapid testing on a larger scale believing that limiting who can administer the tests and where they can be administered perpetuates the epidemic by disallowing testing at the sites where testing is most needed. The federal government is in the process of determining if the test will be approved and, if so, whether it will be approved with a CLIA waiver, allowing the rapid test to be administered in community outreach settings.

"It's ironic that in a nation that has been providing quality counseling and testing for more than twenty years, we have individuals and organizations opposed to widespread rapid testing," exclaims Copello. "If we exclude our highly trained network of counselors and testers from administering rapid HIV tests, we are denying entire populations access to a test that can save their lives and our communities."

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention:
- Between 850,000 and 900,000 Americans are living with HIV disease
- 1/3rd of HIV positive individuals are unaware that they are infected
- 54% of new infections occur in African Americans, though they represent 12% of the US population
- 64% of newly infected women are African American and 18% are Hispanic
- 50% of newly infected men are African American and 20% are Hispanic

Among the nearly 100 organizations calling for broad based rapid HIV testing are: Florida AIDS Action, AIDS Alliance for Children Youth and Families, AIDS Healthcare Foundation, AIDS Project Los Angeles, American Academy of HIV Medicine, Elizabeth Glaser Pediatric AIDS Foundation, Gay Men's' Health Crisis, Human Rights Campaign, Infectious Disease Society of America, The Magic Johnson Foundation, National Alliance of State and Territorial AIDS Directors, National Association of People with AIDS, Stop AIDS Project, UCLA Center for Clinical AIDS Research and Education.

To learn more about Florida AIDS Action, and for more information on how to become involved in AIDS advocacy work, please contact Florida AIDS Action by phone at: (813) 232-5886, or by email at: information@floridaaidsaction.org.

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Florida AIDS Action, the only statewide 501(c)(3) HIV/AIDS agency in Florida, promotes social change through community planning, education, public policy research and advocacy. For more information, call (813) 232-5886, or visit on the web at www.floridaaidsaction.org.