© 2009 American Public Health Association DOI: 10.2105/AJPH.2008.157958
Madeline Y. Sutton, Rhondette L. Jones, Richard J. Wolitski, and Janet C. Cleveland are with the Division of HIV/AIDS Prevention, National Centers for HIV/AIDS, Viral Hepatitis, STD, and TB Prevention, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), Atlanta, GA. Hazel D. Dean and Kevin A. Fenton are with the National Centers for HIV/AIDS, Viral Hepatitis, STD, and TB Prevention, CDC, Atlanta. Correspondence: Correspondence should be sent to Madeline Y. Sutton, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 1600 Clifton Road NE, MS E-45, Atlanta, GA 30333 (e-mail: msutton{at}cdc.gov). Reprints can be ordered at http://www.ajph.org by clicking on the "Reprints/Eprints" link.
Among US racial/ethnic groups, Blacks are at the highest risk of acquiring HIV/AIDS. In response, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has launched the Heightened National Response to Address the HIV/AIDS Crisis Among African Americans, which seeks to engage public and nonpublic partners in a synergistic effort to prevent HIV among Blacks. The CDC also recently launched Act Against AIDS, a campaign to refocus attention on the domestic HIV/AIDS crisis. Although the CDC's efforts to combat HIV/AIDS among Blacks have achieved some success, more must be done to address this crisis. New initiatives include President Obama's goal of developing a National HIV/AIDS Strategy to reduce HIV incidence, decrease HIV-related health disparities, and increase access to care, especially among Blacks and other disproportionately affected populations.
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