Claire Panosian Dunavan is a professor of medicine and infectious diseases at the University of California, Los Angeles, a former president of the American Society of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene, and a co-author of the Institute of Medicine’s 2005 “Healers Abroad” report. Her columns and articles have appeared in the Los Angeles Times, New York Times, Washington Post, Scientific American and Discover magazine, among others. 

LOS ANGELES — Massachusetts Senator John Kerry may head the US State Department next year, but his daughter Vanessa has already launched a new era of global health realpolitik.

Dr. Vanessa Kerry visited California on October 15 and 16 and spoke to medical students, trainees and faculty at USC and UCLA about a new public-private partnership designed to boost the education of doctors and nurses in sub-Saharan Africa.

October 15 marked the 10th annual National Latino AIDS Awareness Day (NLAAD), a day for Latinos in the US to advocate, educate, and come together as a community to fight HIV/AIDS.

But what about the other 364 days per year? Despite evidence that Latinos suffer disproportionately from HIV/AIDS, we don't always hear about the AIDS epidemic specifically as it relates to Latino communities. This may be because, statistically speaking, the outlook for the epidemic is more bleak for African Americans than for Latinos. While Latinos made up 16 percent of the US population but accounted for 20 percent of new HIV infections in 2009, African Americans made up 14 percent of the US population and 44 percent of new HIV infections, according to the CDC. 

Mitchell Warren is the Executive Director of AVAC, a leading HIV prevention advocacy organization, and Chris Collins is the Vice President and Director of Public Policy at amfAR, The Foundation for AIDS Research. The joint AVAC/amfAR report, An Action Agenda to End AIDS, is available at www.endingaids.org. 

WASHINGTON, DC — How would I tell my grandma?

The question raced through my mind while I swept the plastic mouth swab between my gum and my upper lip. I was sitting in a testing van in Anacostia, and I had taken a break from my reporting to get an HIV test.

It would be the greatest tragedy, I always thought, if I were to die from the same disease as my mom. This fear is what kept me from wanting to know my own HIV status for 18 years.

At the 19th International AIDS Conference in Washington, DC, doctors, researchers and advocates stressed how far we have come in the past 30 years of fighting HIV. Speaker after speaker assured attendees that science can now help HIV-positive people live long, healthy lives.

The biggest threat to the goal of transforming HIV/AIDS from a death sentence to a manageable chronic disease, it seems, is getting people tested and aware of their status so they can take advantage of the treatments available.

Why is this such a challenge? Because of stigma.