AIDS Conference sends strong message to Obama

A major protest marked the start of the 2010 International AIDS Conference—Twitter hashtag #AIDS2010—in Vienna. Hundreds of HIV-positive activists marched through the streets and into the Messe Wien conference center and staged a massive "die-in" to delay the start of the opening ceremonies.




The activists were calling attention to the decreased funding of HIV/AIDS programs by the G8 leaders, as well as the "slowing and scaling back their commitments toward Universal Access to HIV care, treatment and prevention." No arrests were reported.



The AIDS 2010 protest mirrors the massive May 13 New York City action when hundreds of activists blocked traffic and laid down on Madison Avenue to protest the Obama Administration's record on HIV/AIDS funding.



Last week the Obama Administration unveiled the nation's first National HIV/AIDS Strategy. Although the strategy shifts focus to "concentrate HIV prevention efforts at the highest-risk population"—including men who have sex with men (MSM) and black Americans—the strategy entails no new additional spending.