|
National News Bush Names AIDS Policy ChiefJuly 22, 2002 A note from TheBody.com: Since this article was written, the HIV pandemic has changed, as has our understanding of HIV/AIDS and its treatment. As a result, parts of this article may be outdated. Please keep this in mind, and be sure to visit other parts of our site for more recent information! White House Press Secretary Ari Fleischer issued a statement Friday naming Joseph O'Neill as the new director of the Office of National AIDS Policy, replacing an openly gay director whose activism rankled some conservatives. O'Neill, an openly gay physician, is the acting head of the Office of AIDS and HIV policy in the Department of Health and Human Services. Outgoing director Scott Evertz was shifted to the Department of Health and Human Services. There he will serve as special assistant to Secretary Tommy Thompson "to assist in further developing and implementing the department's overall strategy to fight HIV/AIDS around the world, including the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria," according to an HHS press statement. "I am thrilled to be able to help the administration address the global pandemic in this new capacity," Evertz said in the statement, seeming to put to rest speculation by activists at the Human Rights Campaign that he was forced out by conservatives who did not like his association with gay groups and his support of condom use for preventing the spread of HIV/AIDS. HRC's political director Winnie Stachelberg said her group is "cautiously hoping that these [personnel] moves will reinvigorate the Bush administration's efforts to create a comprehensive HIV and AIDS strategy to battle the disease at home and abroad." Associated Press 07.19.02; Sandra Sobieraj A note from TheBody.com: Since this article was written, the HIV pandemic has changed, as has our understanding of HIV/AIDS and its treatment. As a result, parts of this article may be outdated. Please keep this in mind, and be sure to visit other parts of our site for more recent information! This article was provided by U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. It is a part of the publication CDC HIV/Hepatitis/STD/TB Prevention News Update.
|
|