Group says CDC priorities on youth HIV prevention are wrong

The National Youth Advocacy Coalition this week criticized the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention for continuing to pour federal money into efforts to boost HIV antibody testing and urge HIV-positive people to not expose others to the virus, despite data showing new HIV infection rates among youths have been climbing since the late 1990s. New HIV infections among adolescents reached an all-time low in the late 1990s, according to the CDC, but have begun a steady climb since then. According to data released in August, new HIV infections among youths are continuing to climb, particularly among African-Americans and Latinos. NYAC blames part of those increases on failed federal HIV prevention efforts, including the current prevention-for-positives initiatives and abstinence-only sex education and HIV prevention programs. The CDC in April 2003 effectively eliminated almost all public funding for HIV prevention efforts aimed at adolescents through its new "Advancing HIV Prevention: New Strategies for a Changing Epidemic," which refocused HIV prevention efforts on encouraging those already infected with HIV to not pass it along to others. Health care providers, educators, researchers, and others charged with limiting the spread and impact of the U.S. AIDS pandemic have criticized the approach, arguing that primary HIV prevention, especially efforts targeting adolescents and those at highest risk, have been successful in reducing the number of U.S. AIDS cases.