HIV/AIDS Activists Dean, Booker Should Discuss Experiences Fighting Disease Among African Americans, Columnist Says
Hazel Dean, associate director for health disparities at CDC's National Center for HIV, STD and TB Prevention, and Salih Booker, executive director of Africa Action, "could benefit" from discussing with each other their experiences fighting HIV/AIDS among African Americans, DeWayne Wickham writes in his weekly USA Today column. AIDS-related illnesses are the leading cause of death among African-American women ages 25 to 44 and African-American men ages 25 to 54, according to Wickham. Dean, a "dedicated public health official," works to reduce HIV/AIDS rates among African Americans, Wickham says, adding that Booker's group raises the "political question" of whether race is the cause for why "we're not providing adequate finances to defeat" the HIV/AIDS pandemic. "Dean might be aided by Booker's activism," Wickham says, adding that Booker might benefit from Dean's "knowledge about how to put to good use the increased funding Booker hopes activists ... will convince politicans around the world to spend to staunch the spread of AIDS among blacks." Wickham concludes, "I think it's time the two of them had a chat" (Wickham, USA Today, 2/11).
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