DC Appleseed Center to Grade District HIV/AIDS Administration on Progress With Report Cards

The DC Appleseed Center on Thursday to commemorate World AIDS Day announced a plan to grade the Washington, D.C., HIV/AIDS Administration on its progress on reform efforts, the Washington Post reports (Washington Post, 12/2). The center in August released a report that found that the city's response to the HIV/AIDS epidemic has been inadequate and poorly coordinated. The report said, among other things, that city officials were not systematically collecting and analyzing data about the epidemic and were not properly coordinating and supervising the organizations that provide services for people living with HIV/AIDS (Kaiser Daily HIV/AIDS Report, 10/6). The report card will grade the administration on 12 areas the center recommended for improvement in the August report, including leadership, public reporting of data, HIV surveillance staffing, grants management, rapid HIV testing, routine HIV testing, condom distribution, prevention education in public schools, needle-exchange programs, substance abuse treatment, HIV/AIDS among prisoners and the administration's Web site (DC Appleseed Center release, 12/1). The center plans to issue its first report card in February 2006, six months after the release of its report (Washington Post, 12/2).

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