WASHINGTON - November 30 - Africa Action will join several other organizations to host a major rally outside the White House this afternoon on the eve of World AIDS Day. Organizers expect several hundred activists to cover Lafayette Park with red tape, calling on policy-makers to “cut the red tape” around access to comprehensive prevention and treatment programs. Scores of participants plan to engage in non-violent civil disobedience and risk arrest to emphasize the urgency of addressing this global health crisis.

Also today, Africa Action released several new resources on the HIV/AIDS crisis in Africa and the impact of the pandemic in Washington, DC and across the nation. This event and the new analysis comes only days after the District of Columbia released the 2007 HIV/AIDS Epidemiology Annual Report that found 1 in 20 residents are living with HIV/AIDS, 86% of them African American, and the 2007 UNAIDS Update that contained breaking news on the trajectory of the pandemic globally.

Gerald LeMelle, Executive Director of Africa Action said today, “The new studies released in advance of World AIDS Day reveal three striking truths about the pandemic that has claimed over 20 million lives. The color of AIDS is Black, hard work to fight HIV can pay off, and urgent action is needed to halt and reverse the pandemic at home and abroad. This year the theme of World AIDS Day is “leadership”. It will be the leadership, or lack thereof, of this nation and its citizens that will determine if we will conquer AIDS as we defeated the “Black Death” centuries ago or if this new Black plague will continue to claim millions of lives.”

Briggs Bomba of Africa Action will be the Master of Ceremonies at this afternoon’s rally at the White House, beginning at 1:30 PM. Speakers and participants will demand that all DC students receive a medically accurate and unbiased comprehensive sexuality education that includes lessons on HIV/AIDS, the implementation of a comprehensive national HIV/AIDS strategy, and a commitment of at least $50 billion over five years to fight global AIDS including $8 billion to train and retain health care workers and an amendment to strike the abstinence earmark. Bomba said, “Resources currently committed to fighting HIV/AIDS by our government and the other rich countries do not reflect the magnitude and urgency of the AIDS crisis. We need the U.S. to commit at least $50 billion to fight AIDS globally. If the color of AIDS was white, would we fully fund the fight?”

Africa Action released three new pieces today: a fact sheet connecting HIV/AIDS in Washington, DC with the pandemic in Africa, an overview of leading Presidential candidates’ positions on HIV/AIDS and a statement on U.S. HIV/AIDS policy progress. The analysis is available at www.africaaction.org. “While passed off as a ‘doubling’ of U.S. support, President Bush’s call in May 2007 to move from $15 billion to $30 billion for the next iteration of the program would in fact merely flat-line funding for U.S. global HIV/AIDS programs and quickly fall behind expanding treatment demand. Candidates for the Presidency must prioritize the pandemic and lay out a comprehensive strategy to end AIDS,” said Africa Action’s Michael Swigert of his research into both the track record of current U.S. global efforts to fight HIV/AIDS and the positions of Presidential candidates.

Africa Action is co-sponsoring this afternoon’s rally along with Act-UP (AIDS Coalition to Unleash Power), Advocates for Youth, American Medical Students Association, Center for Health and Gender Equity (CHANGE), DC Fights Back, Global AIDS Alliance, Jubilee USA Network, MetroTeenAIDS, RESULTS, Student Global AIDS Campaign and the Unitarian Universalist Association. For more information and analysis on Africa’s HIV/AIDS crisis, see http://www.africaaction.org/aids

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