The fight against AIDS and injustice at home is far from finished. Only a couple months ago in August 2008, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) released alarming data showing that the rates of infection in the United States are 40% higher than had been estimated for the past decade. The new estimates show that there are 56,000 new HIV infections each year in the US, not the 40,000 that had been estimated for the past 10 years. Recognizing that we cannot and must not forget the millions of individuals who are infected and affected by HIV/AIDS in the US, SGAC is working to acknowledge the domestic issues of the epidemic in this year\u2019s campaign.

An estimated 1.2 million Americans are living with HIV/AIDS, one quarter of whom remain unaware of
their status. HIV is a completely preventable virus. The nation\u2019s failure to address the epidemic
demonstrates a lack of focus, coordination, and political will, and it is time that we stand up for justice
and demand that our nation address the urgency of the AIDS epidemic at home. We must address the
problem at home with the same seriousness as we address the effort abroad.

The next President of the United States must address this epidemic and make fighting AIDS a priority both at home and abroad. This year, SGAC will demand concrete action from our local and national governments and representatives.

While our national government requires countries that receive aid from the U.S. have a national AIDS plan in place, America itself has no strategic plan to combat its own epidemic. We can and must do a better job of confronting this epidemic that is affecting our nation. As a global leader in the fight against HIV/AIDS, America must invest in developing an evidence-based coordinated plan of action.

Several hundred individuals and organizations across the nation are joining together in the Call for a National AIDS Strategy (NAS). Accordingly, SGAC will join these organizations to demand that the next president of the United States and his administration develop a comprehensive NAS.

In the development of a NAS, Federal officials must strategize with local and staff officials,
people living with HIV/AIDS, academics, community organizations, and even business leaders to
develop, finalize, announce, fully fund, and begin implementation of a coordinated, results-oriented
national plan against HIV/AIDS. NAS leaders must set high goals and attainable targets, and our NAS
must be oriented toward results that can be clearly measured. Such a strategy must implement specific
strategies and mechanisms to maintain federal government accountability. Furthermore, our national

various racial/ethnic, class, gender, sexual orientation backgrounds.
Please join us in our efforts to demand that our future President works to create a NAS.
How can you help? It being a critical election year, we must take advantage of our access to

Student Global AIDS Campaign will join the 1st Hundred Days Coalition on Thursday,
November 20, 2008 at noon in Washington D.C. at a rally to demand that the next President and his
administration work to create a National AIDS Strategy that is inclusive of several specific demands.

In addition to demanding that our new president show leadership on AIDS by working to create a National AIDS Strategy, SGAC will work to influence our next President and Congressional leaders to implement the following:

nothing; most syringes cost less than $1 USD.
It is currently illegal to use government funds to supply intravenous drug users with clean needles.
Even though the Center for Disease Control (CDC) issued a report over TEN years ago stating that

NEPs \u201ccan be an effective component of a comprehensive strategy to prevent HIV and other blood-
borne infectious diseases in communities that choose to include them,\u201d and even though the CDC
recently reported that \u201cIDUs who continue to inject use a new sterile syringe for every drug injection
can substantially reduce their risks of acquiring and transmitting blood-borne viral infections,\u201d the US
government has chosen to ignore this opportunity.

Because we care about humanity and because we are committed to fighting the HIV/AIDS pandemic,
Student Global AIDS Campaign advocates the abolition of the ban on federal funding for Needle
Exchange Programs.

The Ryan White HIV/AIDS Treatment Modernization Act provides funding from the Federal
Government to states and other localities in order to provide prevention resources and treatment to low-
income people living with HIV/AIDS. Via Ryan White funding, AIDS Drug Assistance Programs
(ADAP) exist in all 50 states and 8 other jurisdictions (e.g., D.C., Guam, Puerto Rico, etc.). Each ADAP
program also receives funding from state and local resources. Accordingly, \u201ceach state operates its own
ADAP, including determining eligibility criteria and other program elements, resulting in significant

Despite a Federal allocation of resources (through theRyan White Act), a few states have not contributed
enough and now have under-funded ADAP programs. Consequently, as of July 3, 2008, several states
have enacted precarious cost-cutting schemes, and two states (Indiana and Montana) currently have
waiting lists. States with these waiting lists, are, in effect, denying life-saving medicine to people who