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“Lawyers are being drafted in droves to unravel spending plans passed by the [California] Legislature and signed by the governor,” and the “goal of these litigators is to get back money their clients lost in the budget process,” the Los Angeles Times reports (Halper, 8/10). “Before signing the budget package last month, the governor made additional cuts to child welfare programs, health care for the poor and AIDS prevention efforts,” according to the AP/Seattle Times. State Sen. Darrell Steinberg (D) “said Friday he will file a lawsuit next week against Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger over what he considers illegal vetoes of funding for social service programs,” alleging that “the governor overstepped his constitutional authority last month when he made more cuts to the Legislature’s revised spending plan” (Lin, 8/7).

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In a column, the Jackson Clarion Ledger’s Shanderia Posey examines CDC’s decision to consider recommending newborn boys be circumcised as part of an effort to reduce the spread of HIV and other sexually transmitted diseases. According to the column, “Opponents of the possible recommendation argue that routine circumcisions would not impact STD transmissions in the United States considering 80 percent of all adult men are already circumcised.” In addition,”[E]veryone doesn’t view the procedure as medically necessary and opt not to do it for cultural and religious reasons. Some even point to the lack of an infant’s consent,” the column states. “Experts from all over are weighing in on this one, and it will surely be a hot topic of discussion at the National HIV Prevention Conference in Atlanta this week. Parents should continue to research the pros and cons of the surgery and make their own decision. As for the CDC’s, we’ll have to hurry up and wait,” the column concludes (Posey, 8/25).

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Health officials in Kentucky are participating in a nationwide effort called the “Test 1 Million Campaign,” with the hopes of “encouraging everyone to get tested for HIV, particularly African-Americans and Hispanics,” WKYT.com reports. Officials from the Department for Public Health held a news conference on Monday to announce the effort. HIV Activist Bobby Edelen said, “If we get one million people tested and find a percentage of those people who have it are positive, those people can make a positive change in their lives.” While health officials are targeting blacks and Hispanics, they “are hoping [their] message reaches everyone,” according to WKYT (Evans, 8/11).

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The White House sought the help of actor Ashton Kutcher to promote National HIV Testing Day on June 27, through his Twitter page, Politico reports. Kutcher has over 2.5 million followers on Twitter, where he recently posted a link to a White House blog post and video commemorating the day. Reid Cherlin, White House assistant press secretary, said, “As technology impacts how and where people are communicating online, we are constantly looking for new ways to engage with the public,” adding, “Our efforts to promote National HIV Testing Day included participation from popular users of Twitter, as well as broad social media engagement by agencies across the government.” The White House also used Twitter to help connect people to HIV testing sites (Gavin, 6/29).

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Politico’s Blog “globalhealth.kff.org with kind permission from the Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation. You can view the entire Kaiser Daily Global Health Policy Report, search the archives and sign up for email delivery at globalhealth.kff.org.

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The one-year-old Florida-based organization Sistas Organizing to Survive on Saturday held a rally in Orlando that sought to raise awareness of HIV among black women and encourage them to be tested, the Orlando Sentinel reports. According to Debbie Tucci, coordinator for the Orange County Health Department’s HIV/AIDS program, one in 68 black women in the state is living with HIV/AIDS and many are unaware they are infected. AIDS has been a leading cause of death for black women ages 25 to 44 in the state for the past 15 years, the Sentinel reports (Ruano González, Orlando Sentinel, 6/21).

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“ADAP Watch,” National Alliance of State and Territorial AIDS Directors: The report found that as of May 20, 2009, there were 99 people on AIDS Drug Assistance Program (ADAP) waiting lists in Indiana, Montana, Nebraska and Wyoming — 37 more people than the previous ADAP Watch report, published in March 2009. The report also found that 11 ADAPs anticipate implementing new cost-containment measures by the end of March 2010, six of which anticipate implementing a waiting list. In addition, the report identifies factors contributing to the need for cost-containment measures, and discusses how state budget deficits are affecting HIV programs, including ADAPs (”ADAP Watch,” NASTAD, 6/4).

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The U.S. government recently announced a commitment to double its support for Malawi’s efforts to fight HIV/AIDS to $45 million annually, Xinhua reports (Xinhua, 6/2).

The “Partnership Framework” was established after U.S. Ambassador to Malawi Peter Bodde and Malawi’s Secretary to the Treasury Randson Mwadiwa signed a “landmark document” on May 18 that sets the foundation for a new framework for the U.S.-Malawi collaboration to combat HIV/AIDS, according to a statement from the U.S. Embassy in Malawi.

The document calls for “increased focus on reducing new HIV infections, while maintaining ongoing activities aimed at improving the quality of treatment and care and mitigating the impacts on individuals and households,” according to the release, which adds that objectives should be achieved within a context of “enhanced Malawian leadership and ownership of the overall response.”

At the signing of the partnership, Bodde said the framework with Malawi “will serve as the model for those that follow in other countries” (Embassy of the U.S., Lilongwe, Malawi release).

Malawi is the first country to sign an agreement with the U.S. following the 2008 reauthorization of PEPFAR. According to Xinhua, about 200,000 HIV-positive people in Malawi are receiving free antiretroviral treatments. There are about one million people living with HIV/AIDS in the country (Xinhua, 6/2).

This information was reprinted from globalhealth.kff.org with kind permission from the Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation. You can view the entire Kaiser Daily Global Health Policy Report, search the archives and sign up for email delivery at globalhealth.kff.org.

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