The International AIDS Conference has come and it’s gone.
It
was as intense as I thought it would be. Yet, organizationally Community
Education Group had some unique opportunities including a visit from U.S.
Secretary of
Health and Human Services Kathleen Sebelius.
We were particularly
honored when Secretary Sebelius mentioned our program during her remarks in the
Conference’s Opening Session. It is always a good feeling to know that your
work is making a difference in the community.
But despite the public recognition, I’ve been thinking that
when it comes to linkage to care, we could do so much more. It’s true that CEG
has experienced tremendous success, linking 95 percent of clients who test
positive to care. But we must do more to apply this model of success to other
health disparities.
It’s time that HIV/AIDS organizations -- specifically those
that are non-clinical providers -- really begin to think about how we can serve
the whole person and the whole community. The end of the epidemic is in sight,
but it certainly isn’t here. Yet we have some very unique skillsets, tools and
access to communities to be able to do more with regard to other health
disparities, such as diabetes and cardiovascular disease. While we’re routinizing
HIV testing, we can also make sure people know their HDL and LDL cholesterol
levels. Likewise, if we know that smoking
contributes to heart disease, we can link members of the community to smoking
cessation programs and help to reduce community incidences of heart failure.
At AIDS 2012, we celebrated how far we’ve come in the
prevention, care and treatment of HIV/AIDS. And yes, we are closer to the end
of the epidemic than we’ve ever been before.
But now that we know better, we must do better.
Sincerely,
A. Toni Young
Executive Director
Community Education Group
No comments:
Post a Comment