AIDS Groups to Protest Obama in NYC

Activists in New York City plan to mark President Barack Obama’s visit Thursday with a protest to demand more money for global HIV/AIDS programs and efforts to fight the disease in earthquake-ravaged Haiti.

President Obama will attend a big-ticket fundraiser Thursday evening for the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee in midtown Manhattan, where groups like Housing Works, ACT UP, and the African Services Committee plan to protest outside the St. Regis Hotel.

According to the groups’ announcement, “On the campaign trail, President Obama pledged ‘to provide at least $50 billion by 2013 for the global fight against HIV/AIDS, including our fair share of the Global Fund, in order to at least double the number of HIV-positive people on treatment and continue to provide treatments to one-third of all those who desperately need them.’

“Since taking office, President Obama’s budgets have shifted funding away from AIDS programs, and his commitments to fighting AIDS have not even kept pace with inflation, let alone increased to the level he promised. As has been highlighted by recent stories in the Boston Globe and Newsweek, a flat-funded budget means that people who were tested under U.S-.sponsored programs and promised treatment when they got sick are now being turned away.”

The protest is scheduled for 5 P.M.