CHAMP-INITIATED SIGN ON LETTERS

September 12, 2008:
TO: Dr. Kevin Fenton, MD, PhD
Director, National Center for HIV/AIDS, Viral Hepatitis, STD and TB Prevention
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention

Re: Criminalization of HIV Transmission

The Community HIV/AIDS Mobilization Project (CHAMP) and the undersigned community - based organizations and individuals urge the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) to adopt a proactive communications strategy to combat dangerously misleading information concerning the transmission and communicability of HIV currently being advanced as a result of criminal prosecutions of people living with HIV/AIDS in the United States.
Read the letter


March 30, 2005:
TO: Dr. Julie Gerberding, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
Cc: Ron Janssen, Director, Division of HIV/AIDS Prevention, CDC
Janet Cleveland, Deputy Director of Prevention Programs, Division of HIV/AIDS Prevention, CDC
Re: CDC Recommendations on Non-Occupational Post-Exposure Prophylaxis (PEP)

We are writing as representatives of a group of over 100 community prevention providers and advocates in response to current CDC recommendations on post-exposure prophylaxis (PEP) to people exposed in non-occupational settings. We agree that access to PEP should not be limited to those exposed due to their occupation and commend the CDC for their progress in this area. We would like to share our concerns and recommendations about the implementation of broader access to PEP.
Full text of the CDC PEP letter


NEEDLE EXCHANGE AND HARM REDUCTION
The Harm Reduction Coalition and the Community HIV/AIDS Mobilization Project (CHAMP) are forming an alliance with national and local advocacy and service organizations to move forward in our ongoing struggle for drug user justice and health.

The focus of this alliance is to address federal policy limiting access to clean syringes, and to develop and implement alternative strategies that will work at the federal level to safeguard the health and human rights of injection drug users, their families, and their communities. As allied organizations in the HIV/AIDS, harm reduction, and racial justice communities, we are asking for your participation in the core of this alliance.

To download the letter of invitation, click here

To get on the contact list for this new alliance, sbrad [at] champnetwork [dot] org
to send your contact information to Sarah Bradley, CHAMP Policy Fellow.

August 16, 2004:
TO: Mr. Jim Bossenmeyer, Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services
Cc: Dr. McClellan, Secretary Thompson
Re: Federal Reimbursement of Emergency Health Services Provided to Undocumented Immigrants

On behalf of the undersigned organizations, the Community HIV/AIDS Mobilization Project (CHAMP) appreciates this opportunity to comment on the implementation of Section 1011 of the Medicare Prescription Drug, Improvement and Modernization Act of 2003 (“Section 1011”), regarding federal reimbursement of emergency health care services provided to undocumented immigrants.

As organizations working with people living with, or at risk of, HIV/AIDS, we are committed to reducing barriers to HIV prevention education, counseling, testing and therapeutic treatment. Thus, we urge implementation of the Section in a way that will encourage, rather than discourage, effective utilization of health services.
Full text of the IMMIGRANT CARE IN HOSPITALS letter

August 16, 2004:
TO: HIV Content Guidelines Comments
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention

RE: June 16,2004 Federal Register Notice, pages 33824-33828, Proposed Revision of Interim HIV Content Guidelines for AIDS-Related Materials, Pictorials, Audiovisuals, Questionnaires, Survey Instruments, Marketing Advertising and Web Site Materials, and Education Sessions in CDC “Regional, State, territorial, Local and Community Assistance Programs” and “Educational Sessions in School-Based Assistance Programs”

As national, regional and local community-based and professional organizations active in HIV prevention, we appreciate the opportunity to submit the following written comments regarding the CDC’s Proposed Revision of Interim HIV Content Guidelines for AIDS-Related Materials.

We support the materials review process as an essential way to ensure that materials developed for HIV-prevention educational purposes are relevant and appropriate for their target audiences. The current program review process, with its strong emphasis on having all stakeholders involved (including individuals from the target populations as well as health education professionals), has been very helpful in developing appropriate HIV prevention interventions and campaigns while steering clear of unnecessary controversy as well as the political biases of small but vocal forces outside the target populations.

We are most concerned that the proposed guideline revisions will weaken the oversight function of program review panels (PRPs) and add an additional level of bureaucracy to the program review process that will undermine the success of prevention programs. In addition, the new requirement would greatly increase both the financial and administrative burden placed upon health departments. Following are specific concerns and recommendations.
Full text of the HIV PREVENTION MATERIALS REVIEW letter