Call to Action Development

This Call to Action builds upon the recommendations of NASTAD‘s monograph, HIV/AIDS: African American Perspectives and Recommendations for State and Local AIDS Directors and Health Departments, and its recognition of the critical role of state and local health departments to address the HIV/AIDS crisis in African American communities. This Call to Action was presented at the 2005 NASTAD Annual Meeting and received approval by the NASTAD Executive Committee.

The Call to Action was written by NASTAD staff and a working group of NASTAD's African American Advisory Committee. The NASTAD African American Advisory Committee is comprised of African American leaders in state health departments who provide their collective public health knowledge and experience to help inform NASTAD on various HIV/AIDS initiatives that target African American communities.

NASTAD acknowledges the following African American Advisory Committee members for their expertise and guidance:

Trevor Bradley Indiana State Department of Health Brenda Crowder-Gaines District of Columbia Department of Health MacArthur Flournoy California Department of Health Services

Clara Gregory New Jersey Department of Health and Senior Services Linda Thomas Oklahoma Department of Health Barry Walston New York State Department of Health

The following NASTAD Staff led the development of this Call to Action:

Nyedra Booker HIV Prevention Programs

Terrance Moore Government Relations

Acknowledgements

NASTAD gratefully acknowledges its staff for their editorial and technical support, with a special thanks to Murray Penner, Deputy Executive Director of Domestic Programs, for his guidance and support, and Leo Rennie for his leadership and contributions in his capacity as Director of Prevention Programs. In addition, NASTAD acknowledges the guidance of Loretta Davis-Satterla, Director, Division of Health, Wellness and Disease Control, Michigan Department of Public Health and contributions of Evelyn Foust, Branch Head, HIV/STD Prevention and Care Branch, North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services. NASTAD also thanks Phil Wilson of The Black AIDS Institute, Dr. David Malebranche of Emory University's Division of General Medicine, Deborah Frazier-Howze of the National Black Leadership Commission on AIDS (NBLCA), Pernessa Seele of The Balm in Gilead, Inc. and the Association of State and Territorial Health Officials (ASTHO) for their contributions to this Call to Action.

This Call to Action represents one component of NASTAD's efforts focusing on the impact of HIV/AIDS on communities of color. NASTAD gratefully acknowledges the following companies, for their financial support to the development of this Call to Action and other related activities: Boehringer Ingelheim Pharmaceuticals, Inc.; Gilead Sciences; GlaxoSmithKline; PAR Pharmaceutical; Roche; and Pfizer, Inc.

NASTAD strengthens state and territory-based leadership, expertise, and advocacy, and brings them to bear in reducing the incidence of HIV infection and on providing care and support to all who live with HIV/AIDS. Our vision is a world free of HIV/AIDS. This Call to Action was funded by the Division of HIV/AIDS Prevention, National Center for HIV, STD, and TB Prevention, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. The contents of this Call to Action are solely the views of the authors and do not necessarily represent the official views of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, or other corporate sponsors.