Fields noted that the Obama administration is in the process of formulating a national policy on AIDS and NBLCA has submitted a statement in response to the President’s National Call to Action offering recommendations to reduce HIV incidence, increase access to care and health outcomes, and reduce HIV-related health disparities.

The forum included leaders from a variety of organizations as well as people living with HIV and AIDS, including: Dr. Garth Graham, head of the Office of Minority Health in the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services; Dawn Breedon, author of “Remember to Breathe”; Barbara Joseph, Executive Director of Positive Efforts; Patricia Nalls, founder of the Women’s Collective in Washington, D.C.; Dr. Lucille Perez, former president of the National Medical Association and president of The Cave Institute; Dr. Bambi Gaddist, head of the South Carolina AIDS Council; Sonya Lockett, Vice President of Black Entertainment Television (BET); M. Delois Strum, President of the National Coalition of 100 Black Women; Sandra Coleman, President, National Association of Negro Business and Professional Women; Barbara McKinzie, President/CEO, Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Inc.; Tonja Cook, Black Nurses Association; Eleanor Hinton Hoytt, President/CEO, Black Women’s Health Imperative; Ravinia Hayes-Cozier, National Minority AIDS

Council; Bernice Frazier, Executive Director of the Southern Christian Leadership Foundation; Vanessa Johnson, Executive Vice President of the National Association of People Living with AIDS; and representatives of the Congressional Black Caucus Foundation and many other organizations.

NBLCA has been heavily involved in discussions about a national HIV/AIDS strategy. NBLCA’s efforts include developing H.R. 1964, legislation laying out a comprehensive plan to fight HIV and AIDS. Last April, NBLCA convened a leadership summit of prominent representatives from the clergy, healthcare, pharmaceutical industry, medicine and government in Washington, D.C. The summit concluded with a meeting with Jeffrey S. Crowley, Director of the Office of National AIDS Policy, and other senior White House staff.

Most recently, NBLCA launched an initiative that aims to step up the fight against HIV/AIDS on historically black colleges and universities around the nation.

The National Black Leadership Commission on AIDS, founded in 1987, is the oldest group of its kind. A not-for-profit organization, its mission is to educate, organize and mobilize Black leadership to meet the challenge of fighting HIV/AIDS in their local communities. NBLCA conducts policy, advocacy and research on HIV/AIDS issues and ensures the effective participation of its leadership in all policy and resource allocation decisions at the national level.