Durham, NC –Board of County Commissioners Chair Wendy Jacobs signed on to the Fast-Track Cities Paris Declaration to end the AIDS epidemic by 2030 at the Board’s regular meeting on Monday, August 12th.
In signing the agreement Chair Jacobs said, “I am proud to sign the Fast-Track Cities Paris Declaration on behalf of the Durham County Board of Commissioners, as Durham County steps up to take a leadership role to eliminate new HIV infections and AIDS related deaths in our community.” She continued, “AIDS is a preventable and treatable disease. No one in our community should be contracting or dying of AIDS. This disease disproportionately impacts African-American gay men and transgender people in Durham. By taking action and signing on to the goals of the Paris Declaration and hiring a full time HIV Coordinator/Navigator, Durham County is prioritizing our commitment to address this racial health disparity in our community.”
Representatives of the International Association of Providers of AIDS Care (IAPAC), a key partner, participated in the signing. “We proudly welcome Durham County’s commitment to fast-track its HIV response in solidarity with an expanding network of U.S. municipalities that are joining the Fast-Track Cities network,” said Dr. José M. Zuniga, President/CEO of IAPAC, the core technical partner of the global Fast-Track Cities initiative. “We encourage the active engagement of all stakeholders, but notably affected communities, to get more people tested and linked to HIV prevention and treatment services as well as break down structural and other barriers, such as stigma, that can impede progress towards attaining the goal of ending urban HIV epidemics by 2030.”
Fast-Track Cities is a global partnership between cities with an HIV burden and four core partners: the City of Paris, France, the first city to sign on; the Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS); the International Association of Providers of AIDS Care (IAPAC); and the United Nations Human Settlements Programme (UN-Habitat).
Through its Public Health Department, Durham County Government has long prioritized the prevention and treatment of HIV/AIDS as a part of its overall health strategy. Durham County currently ranks 6th among North Carolina counties for new HIV diagnoses and historic trends indicate that people of color are disproportionally affected by HIV/AIDS.
As a further indication of the importance of addressing this critical public health issue, Durham County recently funded a full-time HIV Coordinator/Navigator position and operational expenses in its adopted Fiscal Year 2019-2020 Budget.
About Fast-Track Cities
Fast-Track Cities is a global partnership between more than 270 municipalities, the International Association of Providers of AIDS Care (IAPAC), the Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS), the United Nations Human Settlements Programme (UN-Habitat), and the city of Paris that are collaborating to reach zero new HIV diagnoses and achieve zero AIDS-related deaths. The initiative was launched on World AIDS Day 2014 in Paris. For more information please visit: www.iapac.org/fast-track-cities.
About the International Association of Providers of AIDS Care (IAPAC)
IAPAC was founded more than three decades ago with a mission to improve access to, and the quality of, prevention, care, treatment, and support services delivered to people living with and affected by HIIV and comorbid diseases, including tuberculosis and viral hepatitis (HBV and HCV) With more than 30,000 members globally, IAPAC is the largest association of clinicians and allied health professionals working to end AIDS as a public health threat by 2030. Visit: www.iapac.org