Wafaa El-Sadr Spotlights the Hidden HIV Epidemic in the U.S.

In an article in the New England Journal of Medicine, Wafaa El-Sadr, MD, MPH, director of the International Center for AIDS Care and Treatment Programs (ICAP) at Columbia University’s Mailman School of Public Health, and professor of Medicine and Epidemiology, describes how the HIV epidemic continues to rage within certain U.S. communities. HIV rates in certain U.S. locations and populations are similar and sometimes higher than those in sub-Saharan Africa.
 
In the article entitled “AIDS in America-Forgotten but Not Gone,” Dr. El-Sadr and her co-authors Kenneth H. Mayer, MD, and Sally Hodder, MD, point out the waning attention paid to the HIV/AIDS epidemic in the United States. They discuss the complexities of the HIV epidemic in the U.S. and its disproportionate impact on disenfranchised groups. Noting the urgent need to refocus attention to the epidemic in our midst, the authors recommend the development of a relevant research agenda that can help gain ground in the fight against the disease.

About ICAP

The International Center for AIDS Care and Treatment Programs (ICAP) was founded in 2004 at Columbia University’s Mailman School of Public Health. Now a global leader in HIV/AIDS services, ICAP supports works with more than 1,000 health care facilities in 13 countries in Africa. Nearly 800,000 people have received ICAP-supported HIV services, including antiretroviral treatment for more than 391,000 individuals. Visit www.icap.columbia.edu.

About the Mailman School of Public Health

The only accredited school of public health in New York City and among the first in the nation, Columbia University’s Mailman School of Public Health pursues an agenda of research, education, and service to address the critical and complex public health issues affecting millions of people locally and globally. The Mailman School is the recipient of some of the largest government and private grants in Columbia University’s history. Its more than 1000 graduate students pursue master’s and doctoral degrees, and the School’s 300 multi-disciplinary faculty members work in more than 100 countries around the world, addressing such issues as infectious and chronic diseases, health promotion and disease prevention, environmental health, maternal and child health, health over the life course, health policy, and public health preparedness. www.mailman.columbia.edu