Community-based Organizations: The Frontlines in the Nation's War on AIDS

December 8, 1941 -- The day after the gravest threat to American existence emerged off the shores of Hawaii, imagine if President Roosevelt had refused to acknowledge the attack, utter the words "Pearl Harbor" or mobilize troops to defend the American people. That's just what happened 40 years later when AIDS first appeared in America. We witnessed a President who wouldn't acknowledge the attack, wouldn't utter the word "AIDS" and wouldn't mobilize public health forces to defend the American people. Advertisement Responding to desperate Americans faced with a frightening new disease, community leaders built an emergency health care infrastructure that served as the foundation for America's response to AIDS. Today, community-based AIDS service organizations continue to be the frontlines in the fight to slow new infection rates, to educate young people about protecting themselves from HIV and to provide services that bring people at risk into testing, counseling and treatment. With federal health officials estimating that 300,000 Americans are HIV-positive and don't know it, local AIDS service providers are the leading organizations working to bring people into testing and counseling. From the smallest church basements in the heartland to the largest urban facilities serving thousands of clients, each local AIDS service organization is a command post in America's war on AIDS.

Talking Points

America's community-based AIDS service providers are the frontlines in the fight against HIV and the new epidemic of infections among young people. Local AIDS service providers are the leading organizations working to bring people into testing and counseling that stops new infections. These AIDS organizations provide care and treatment that save lives and can act as a testing incentive to people at risk for HIV who are unaware of their HIV status. Today's local AIDS organizations are the primary source of targeted prevention advertising and other information that give young people and other groups at risk the tools to prevent HIV infection.

Just the Facts

America's community-based AIDS service organizations provide a variety of services designed to slow the progression of HIV in people who are infected. They provide services and information that get people at risk into testing and provide counseling that helps people with HIV protect the health of others. These organizations provide services at the lowest cost possible to the diverse populations affected by AIDS, from targeted prevention campaigns to treatment services tailored to meet the needs of people in local communities. Testing -- The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) estimates that there are 300,000 Americans who have HIV and don't even know it. Community-based AIDS service providers bring at-risk people into testing and counseling so this emotionally difficult test can be performed in the easiest and most comfortable setting. Counseling -- Pre- and post-test counseling encourage those who are infected to inform past and current sex partners and provide information about access to new treatment options. Care and Treatment -- With more people living with HIV than ever before, AIDS service organizations provide access to services that help people adhere to the complex regimen of AIDS drugs so they stay healthy. Nutrition -- Access to a proper and healthy diet is critically important to the success of the drug treatments. AIDS service organizations provide low-income Americans with HIV access to nutrition counseling as well as to the food itself.

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This article was provided by AIDS Action Council.

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