Congresswoman Donna Christian Christensen, Chair of the Congressional Black Caucus Health Braintrust, will join Rep. Barbara Lee (D-CA) and Donald Payne (D-NJ) in
convening a panel discussion on the current U.S. response to the global AIDS crisis and address the disproportionate impact on people of African descent.
The forum, USAFRICA: Confronting the Global AIDS Crisis in the New
Millennium, will be held in conjunction with the Health Braintrust activities during the 29th Annual Legislative Conference of the Congressional Black Caucus Foundation, on Thursday, September 16, 1999 from 2 p.m. to 6:30 p.m. at the Willard Intercontinental Hotel in Washington, DC.
U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Secretary Donna Shalala, former
U.S. Congressman Ronald V. Dellums, and White House Director of National AIDS Policy Sandy Thurman, are among the distinguished panelists in two-part discussion on the current domestic and global challenges of finding sustainable solutions to effectively address HIV/AIDS.
The panel will also include personal testimonies from African Americans living with AIDS, and perspectives from the international community on its role in developing a strategic response to the AIDS pandemic.
"AIDS will continue to threaten populations worldwide where prevention and
treatment options are strictly limited and where additional health disparities exist," Christensen said. "Here in the United States, disparities in HIV/AIDS infections and other
facets of the health care infrastructure have come to make up the new civil rights battlefield. The Congressional Black Caucus Health Braintrust will continue to work to ensure that people of color are not left behind as society seeks to find cures for this disease that is devastating our communities here and around the world."
The Health Braintrust will feature a domestic panel discussion moderated by Bev Smith, American Urban Radio Network, from 2 p.m. to 4:30 p.m., followed by an international panel discussion moderated by Dr. Ian Smith, NBC News correspondent, from 4:30 p.m. to 6:30 p.m.