READ UP: CHAMP PUBLICATIONS

• HHSWatch: Monthly Watchdog E-News
• CHAMP News: Our Quarterly Newsletter
• Solidarity Project Newsletter
• CHAMP Reports and Position Papers
• Sign-On Letters

HHSWatch
HHSWatch is a watchdog newsletter that monitors and reports on activities related to HIV prevention at Health and Human Services agencies, including CDC, NIH, HRSA and SAMHSA.

JANUARY 2008

• It's Getting To Be A Bad Habit
• THe Vaccine We Have Already: More Trials and Tribulations
Download January 2008 HHSWatch as PDF Document

SEPTEMBER 2007

• Herpes Suppression: It All Seemed So Simple
• Diaphragms: A Strangely Permeable Wall
• Cellulose Sulfate: Two Times More HIV, or Not
• Abstinence: Saying No Over and Over Again
• Congress: Despite the Bad Reviews, Abstinence Continues its Run
Download September 2007 HHSWatch as PDF Document

JULY 2007

• The CDC Tests the Waters
• New Dissent on HIV Testing Policy
• Congress Abandons HIV Prevention
Download July 2007 HHSWatch as PDF Document

APRIL 2007

• New African American Initiative Gropes for a New Direction
• Abstinence-Only Educators Scramble to Prove their Worth
• Teen Pregnancy Declines: Birth Control or Just Say No?
Download April2007 HHSWatch as Word Document
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March 2007
A Microbicide Conundrum
Minority AIDS Initiative Crisis
Prevention Takes to the Red Carpet at CROI
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January 2007
Plan? Did Somebody Say We Had a Plan?
Needle Exchange: The Ban Plays On
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December 2006
An Alternative PATHWAY for Global HIV Prevention
PEPFAR Prevention Faces Growing Opposition
Circumcision: Another Option Long Ignored
Reauthorization at the Last Minute
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November 2006
SPECIAL FOCUS ON CONGRESS:
Hoping for a tidal wave, settling for the tidal drift
Download Nov 2006 HHSWatch as Word Document
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October 2006
HEADING FOR THE FALL:
Ryan White Reauthorization: Losing the Sense of Community
New CDC Testing Guidelines: Leaving the Future to Take Care of Itself
Download Oct 2006 HHSWatch as Word Document
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September 2006
SPECIAL EDITION ON HIV TESTING:
Commentary on upcoming CDC testing guidelines by David Gilden, Walt Senterfitt
Update on House bills on prison-based testing
Download Sep 2006 HHSWatch as Word Document
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June 2006
PEMS Takes a Break
A Vaccine for Girls Only – What about Boys, Women?
The Ever Strengthening Case for Condom Protection
Download June 2006 HHSWatch as Word Document
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MAY 2006
Preparing for PREP
Managing Microbicides
Fewer trials, more tribulations
Download MAY 2006 HHSWatch as Word Document
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MARCH 2006
The Ingredients of a Potent HIV Prevention Recipe
Office of AIDS Research Advisory Council Meeting
Report from the 2006 Retrovirus Conference
PEMS Breakthrough
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DECEMBER 2005: SPECIAL EDITION:
New CDC Evaluation Program:
Rube Goldberg Meets Big Brother
Download DECEMBER 2005 HHSWatch as Word Document
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November 2005
In this issue:
Condom Label Changes Raise Controversy
Maine Rejects Abstinence Funding
Quality of Abstinence Programs Challenged
PEPFAR and Condom Shortage in Uganda
Download NOVEMBER 2005 HHSWatch as Word Document
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September 2005
In this issue:
meeting the needs of people with HIV impacted by Hurricane Katrina
issues of prevention in Ryan White CARE Act reauthorization
cost-effectiveness data that contradicts the priorities of CDC’s Advancing HIV Prevention initiative
interpretation of recent data on circumcision as a potential HIV prevention intervention
Download SEPTEMBER 2005 HHSWatch as Word Document
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JULY 2005: SPECIAL EDITION:
Condom Effectiveness Reviewed, Revised & Reduxed
Download JULY 2005 HHSWatch as Word Document
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JUNE 2005
In this issue:
• HPV Vaccine on the Way – but for Whom?
• Congressional “Witch-hunt” Targets Harm Reduction Proponents
• ACLU suit aims to stop Silver Ring Thing
Download JUNE 2005 HHSWatch as Word Document
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April 2005
In this issue:
• 4parents.gov spreads misinformation to parents and kids
• Bush nominates Whitewater team member as Deputy Secretary of HHS
• AIDS Foundation of Chicago crafts state plan for progressive prison policies
• CDC post-exposure prophylaxis recommendations questioned
• Condom-burning minister testifies in favor of PEPFAR abstinence-only funding
• Do Prevention With Positives programs risk criminalization of people with HIV?
and more!
Download APRIL 2005 HHSWatch as Word Document
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March 2005
In this issue:
• ONGOING CONCERNS ABOUT DEBI PROGRAMS AND IMPLEMENTATION
• TELL CDC WHAT YOU THINK OF PEMS
• VERMONT ORGANIZATION JUST SAYS NO TO CDC RESTRICTIONS
• CONGRESSIONAL HEARINGS TARGET HARM REDUCTION
• CDC/HRSA ADVISORY COMMITTEE NAMES NEW MEMBERS
• SAMHSA BOWS TO PRESSURE, REINSTATES 'LGBT' TO WORKSHOP TITLE
and more!
Download MARCH 2005 HHSWatch as Word Document
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CHAMP NEWS

April 2008
In this issue:
• Confronting Overlapping Epidemics: HIV and Mass Imprisonment
• Mujeres and CHAMP's Prevention Justice Partnership: Another Lesson Learned
• HIV Prevention Research Advocacy Takes Off
• Same War, Different Battle
• Meet the Staff: Kenyon and Coco
View April 2008 CHAMP NEWS in HTML

WINTER 2007
In this issue:
• Looking Back on a Year of Success
• Prevention Justice Message Mobilizes AIDS Movement
• That's a wrap! Prevention Justice Partners of 2007
• My Experiences in CHAMP Prevention Research Advocacy
• CHAMP and UNITE HERE Host Prevention Justice Dialogue
• Ride FAR Generates Over $50,000 for CHAMP!
View WINTER 2007 CHAMP NEWS in HTML

SPRING 2007
In this issue:
• Your Tax Dollars NOT at Work - making the connection between tax cuts and lack of AIDS services
• ANGER In Action - One activists experience.
• CHAMP in the News
• Research Advocacy for HIV Prevention: Skills and Challenges for AIDS Activists
• What's Up @ CHAMP
• CHAMP NY COMMUNITY FORUM REPORTS
• Break-A-Leg Sonny!
Download SPRING 2007 CHAMP NEWS as a PDF Document

WINTER 2006
In this issue:
• A Vision of Justice: Building the CHAMP Network
• This is not a magic wand
• Solidarity Project - New Publication places AIDS Activism within the Spectrum of Social Justice Movements
• From Around the Corner to Around the World
• 2006 YEAR-END CAMPAIGN MASH-UP
• CHAMP Mobilizes for Federal Legislation to Allow Condoms in Prisons
• CHAMP NY COMMUNITY FORUM REPORTS
• Prevention Justice Partnership – Goodbye 2006! Hello 2007!
• CHAMP Financial Statements For the Year Ended May 31, 2006
Download WINTER 2006 CHAMP NEWS as a PDF Document

FALL 2006
In this issue:
• Prevention Prevails in Toronto - 2006 International AIDS Conference - TimeToDeliver.org
• Global Day of Action with Treatment Action Campaign
• Young AIDS Activists Bloom in Chicago - C2EA Youth Action Institute
• Policy Focus - Condom Access in State Prisons
• WHAT’S UP @ CHAMP
• CHAMP Address Change
Download FALL 2006 CHAMP NEWS as a PDF Document

SPRING 2006
In this issue:
• Feeling PrEP-y? Pre-Exposure Prophylaxis
• Update on Prevention Justice Partners
• CHAMP NY Public Forums
• Spotlight on Strategy Lab for HIV Prevention
• WHAT’S UP @ CHAMP
Download SPRING 2006 CHAMP NEWS as a PDF Document
Download SPRING 2006 CHAMP NEWS as Word Document

WINTER 2005/2006
In this issue:
• CHAMP Vs. CDC: Community Pressure Forces CDC to Halt Dangerous HIV Prevention Reporting System
• Building a Grassroots HIV Prevention Movement: Introducing our six Prevention Justice Partners for 2006
• CHAMP’s NYC Activist Group Builds Momentum
• CHAMP OPENS 2006 WITH PUSH NEXT-GENERATION PREVENTION OPTIONS
• WHAT’S UP @ CHAMP
Download WINTER2005 CHAMP NEWS as a PDF Document
Download WINTER2006 CHAMP NEWS as Word Document

Fall 2005
In this issue:
• CHAMP plays key role in organizing AIDS caravan across the Northeast
• Protest, March & Die-In Against Bush’s Campaign to INCREASE AIDS
• Lessons From The Road: A conversation between CHMAP staffers Sean Barry & Sonny Suchdev on their experiences as organizers for the C2EA Northern Tier/Diva Express, American Heritage and Nor’easter caravans.
• Find the Condoms in Your School Campaign
• WHAT’S UP @ CHAMP
• CHAMP welcomes New Board Members
Download SUMMER2005 CHAMP NEWS as a PDF Document
Download SUMMER 2005 CHAMP NEWS as Word Document

Summer 2005
In this issue:
• End the War on Condoms
• Get on the Caravan with C2EA Nor'easter
• www.4parent.gov made better
• Become a Prevention Justice Parner
• Join the National AIDS Mapping & Mobilization Project
• CHAMP welcomes New Staff
• CHAMP Academy calendar
• New CHAMP office in New England
Download SUMMER2005 CHAMP NEWS as a PDF Document
Download SUMMER 2005 CHAMP NEWS as Word Document

March 2005
In this issue:
• CHAMP speaks out on drug-resistant, fast progressing HIV case in NYC
• Join the Campaign to End AIDS!
• Strategy Lab for HIV Prevention Policy gathers for research advocacy training
• CHAMP welcomes New Staff
• CHAMPsters climb mountains and move them too: updates on our folks
and more!
Download MARCH 2005 CHAMP NEWS as a PDF Document
Download MARCH 2005 CHAMP NEWS as Word Document

December 2004
In this issue:
• Report from the first Prevention Justice Seminar
• The AIDS movement after 11/2: Finding the way forward
• Launch of the HIV Prevention Organizing Project (H-POP)
• Meet the Strategy Lab for HIV Prevention Policy and CDC Watch
• Generations of CHAMPions: AIDS Activist Interviews
and more!
Download DECEMBER 2004 CHAMP NEWS as a PDF Document
Download DECEMBER 2004 CHAMP NEWS as Word Document

CHAMP REPORTS

How did circumcision prevent HIV in clinical trials in Africa...
and what does it mean for the United States?
Educational briefing paper for US AIDS communities based on information available as of March 29, 2007

Recent research shows that circumcision could be an effective new HIV prevention tool, especially in areas of the world with high HIV prevalence and low rates of circumcision. This promising news is clearly significant for sub- Saharan Africa. It is still unclear what this data could mean for HIV prevention strategies in the United States, where the epidemic is severe within specific communities, but is different from the epidemic in hard-hit regions of Africa where AIDS is common among the general population. There is a lot of new and important data on circumcision, and much of it raises more questions than answers when we consider what it may mean for the epidemic in the US.

To read our position paper How did circumcision prevent HIV in clinical trials in Africa...
and what does it mean for the United States? click here

OPPOSE THE CENSORSHIP OF SCIENCE
CHAMP is increasing grassroots AIDS community participation in opposing the censorship of science.

It is one of the AIDS movement’s greatest hallmarks that social scientists, educators and policy makers have worked together to create multilayered prevention education programs. However, the recent clash of ideology and science in the federal political arena, so hotly debated with respect to stem-cell research, has grave implications for this unity and the future of AIDS prevention. For example, although ten years of cumulative behavioral research both supports comprehensive sexuality education and seriously questions value of “abstinence-only-until-marriage” programs, levels of federal funding for abstinence-only education continue to increase.

The emphasis of ideology over evidence-based research in Congress stimulates censorship and discourages a frank debate on HIV prevention.

To read our position paper ATTACKS ON SCIENCE = ATTACKS ON HIV PREVENTION click here

NOVEMBER 23, 2003:
Prepared on behalf of the November 24 March on the White House Coalition
2003 Year-in-review: HIV/AIDS US Policy Briefing Papers
Full text of the YEAR-IN-REVIEW report

OCTOBER 28 - NOVEMBER 3, 2003
Report written by Julie Davids of CHAMP on behalf of co-sponsors CHAMP, TAG and AIDES:
REPORT FROM THE SECOND INTERNATIONAL TB/HIV COMMUNITY EDUCATION & MOBILIZATION WORKSHOP
The Second International TB/HIV Community Education & Mobilization Workshop took place in Paris in 2003, drawing together community activists from countries with high rates of TB and HIV co-infection. TB is the biggest killer of people with HIV worldwide. The gathering provided an opportunity for international HIV community representatives to develop plans and strategies to mobilize communities, policymakers, and resources to better fight TB/HIV at the country and regional levels, and participate in global policy dialogue.

Click here to read the report online

Download FULL REPORT in ENGLISH
Download FULL REPORT in SPANISH



CHAMP-INITIATED SIGN ON LETTERS

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, click here
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