Although health
officials in Washington, D.C., have focused more
attention on improving HIV prevention, treatment, and care
in the wake of a report last year that said the
district's AIDS efforts were woefully
inadequate, progress remains uneven, The Washington
Post reports. The D.C. Appleseed Center for Law and
Justice, which reviewed the district's AIDS efforts
last year, now says improvements have been made but
that condom distribution and substance abuse treatment
programs are still inadequate and poorly coordinated.
The Appleseed
Center this week issued a report card on several major
areas it had identified last year as needing improvement and
gave the following grades based on changes over the
past year:
Leadership: B-
HIV data
collection and management: Incomplete
Surveillance
staffing: Incomplete
Grants
management: B
Rapid HIV
antibody testing: B
Routine HIV
antibody testing: C
Condom
distribution: D
Public-school HIV
programs: B-
Needle exchange
services: B-
Substance abuse
treatment: D+
Appleseed Center
executive director Walter Smith told the Post that
the report notes several areas of "forward
movement" but adds that not all public officials in
the district have fully committed to the AIDS battle,
which he says is necessary to slow the spread of HIV
in the region.
D.C. health
director Gregg Pane says that while he backs the report, he
also believes the Appleseed Center gave low grades in some
areas. He believes the district should have received a
"solid A for effort and a solid B for
performance." (The Advocate)