The Ad Campaign that Says AIDS is Washington, D.C.'s "Katrina"

categories: HIV/AIDS, LGBT Health Care, LGBT Rights and Politics, Obama Administration and Gay Rights

Published August 04, 2009 @ 12:31PM PT

AIDS is D.C's Katrina The D.C.-based AIDS Healthcare Foundation is taking the staggering statistics about Washington, D.C.'s HIV/AIDS rate, and turning them into an ad campaign that shows how devastating the disease is inside the Beltway. The ad campaign, "AIDS is D.C.'s Katrina," is up and running on dozens of bus shelters throughout the D.C. area, and depicts an image of former President George W. Bush surveying the damage from Hurricane Katrina from the windows of Air Force One. In the foreground, however, a cardboard sign vividly says, "AIDS is D.C.'s Katrina."

Powerful stuff. Especially given the statistics that lie behind the ad. The HIV/AIDS rate in Washington, D.C. is higher than several African countries, at nearly 3% of the total population, and clinics in D.C. have seen a 232% increase in the number of cases they're diagnosing. Those types of statistics certainly deserve and merit a vivid public advertising campaign.

Here's what Michael Weinstein, the head of the AIDS Healthcare Foundation, had to say about the campaign:

Katrina quickly came to symbolize the Bush administration's neglect and indifference of some of America's most vulnerable citizens. Today, 56,000 new HIV infections each year in the United States, a 40% increase from last year, symbolizing neglect and indifference -- and the failure of our U.S. HIV prevention efforts.

The fact that Washington, D.C.'s HIV prevalence rate is now higher than some hard-hit African countries is an indictment of how the CDC has failed to lead in HIV prevention efforts. When this news about Washington's HIV rate first broke in March, President Obama remained silent. Despite his silence on AIDS to date, we hope this ad will prod President Obama to act forcefully on AIDS, and we remain hopeful he will be the change that we can believe in -- and urgently need -- on AIDS.

Prodding Obama to change domestic policies related to HIV/AIDS care is also the vision behind a related Web site, changeaidsobama.org, which seeks to use the images in the advertising campaign to pressure the Obama administration into adopting serious policy reforms to address high rates of HIV/AIDS, including overturning a ban on federal funding for needle exchange programs (a pledge Obama made during his Presidential campaign, but one that he's backed off of since taking office).

Click here to view an ad for changeaidsobama.org. Check out their message, and if you agree, check out their action section and send a letter to President Obama asking him to be the "change we can believe in" on HIV/AIDS.

The decimation and destruction of Hurricane Katrina is still being felt four years later. For those suffering from HIV/AIDS, it's been 28 years. In both instances, government response was slow, inadequate, and disastrous.

Share this Post

Comments (4)

Forceful and effective approaches will be required to prevent the rising rate of HIV/AIDS in Washington, D.C. The "AIDS is D.C.'s Katrina" is good that it spreads the correct message of the problem in Washington D.C. because of its very high rate of HIV/AIDS, which is even higher than some African countries. Hopefully, President Obama will take a prominent stand on the problem and reconsiders his decision against the federal ban on needle sharing.

Posted by Edwin Bonilla on 08/04/2009 @ 02:29PM PT
- Report close
  You must be signed in to report content.
- Reply
- Like
For your comment to be published, you will need to confirm your email address after submitting your comment. In the process we will also create a Change.org account for you so you can track this and future conversations. Don't worry - we won't spam you. We just want to promote constructive dialogue and find that people are more respectful when they are not anonymous.

If you already have an account, click here to log in.

First Name:

Last Name:

Email:

Create Password:

reply to thread started by by Edwin
Check Spelling
- Email me when there are new posts to this thread
- Comment Policy
Cancel Reply
I live in DC across the street from one of those ads, in a lower-income, mostly African American neighborhood. I can tell you that white people like me look at those ads and think "Wow... how powerful." However, the guys who live and hang out on the streets in my neighborhood think that they are being disrespectful to Katrina victims and black people and blowing the DC AIDS epidemic out of proportion.

I don't know who created that ad, but it doesn't seem to be getting through to the people most at risk in my area. DC needs more public awareness for those most at risk of infection an better information about testing for those who may be infected.

Posted by Amanda Kloer on 08/05/2009 @ 06:28AM PT
- Report close
  You must be signed in to report content.
- Reply
- Like
For your comment to be published, you will need to confirm your email address after submitting your comment. In the process we will also create a Change.org account for you so you can track this and future conversations. Don't worry - we won't spam you. We just want to promote constructive dialogue and find that people are more respectful when they are not anonymous.

If you already have an account, click here to log in.

First Name:

Last Name:

Email:

Create Password:

reply to thread started by by Amanda
Check Spelling
- Email me when there are new posts to this thread
- Comment Policy
Cancel Reply
That's interesting. I can certainly see how this ad could be interpreted differently based on race or class. But I find the idea that people think this is "blowing the DC AIDS epidemic out of proportion" to be, frankly, way off-based.

The HIV/AIDS rate for African American men in D.C. is seven percent, and for African American men aged 40-49, it's ten percent. That puts D.C.'s HIV/AIDS rate on par with Uganda's. I'd be curious to hear what "out of proportion" means, given those numbers.

Again, I can definitely see how this ad - which is meant to stoke controversy - can be interpreted as either powerful or disrespectful based on a number of factors. But for the time being I'm happy that it has people talking about HIV/AIDS, especially since every mode of HIV/AIDS transmission in D.C. is on the rise.

Posted by Michael Jones on 08/05/2009 @ 06:42AM PT
- Report close
  You must be signed in to report content.
- Reply
- Like
For your comment to be published, you will need to confirm your email address after submitting your comment. In the process we will also create a Change.org account for you so you can track this and future conversations. Don't worry - we won't spam you. We just want to promote constructive dialogue and find that people are more respectful when they are not anonymous.

If you already have an account, click here to log in.

First Name:

Last Name:

Email:

Create Password:

reply to thread started by by Michael
Check Spelling
- Email me when there are new posts to this thread
- Comment Policy
Cancel Reply
I did not know this. Thank you for this post. I will send my letter pronto.

Posted by S B on 08/05/2009 @ 01:58PM PT
- Report close
  You must be signed in to report content.
- Reply
- Like
For your comment to be published, you will need to confirm your email address after submitting your comment. In the process we will also create a Change.org account for you so you can track this and future conversations. Don't worry - we won't spam you. We just want to promote constructive dialogue and find that people are more respectful when they are not anonymous.

If you already have an account, click here to log in.

First Name:

Last Name:

Email:

Create Password:

reply to thread started by by S
Check Spelling
- Email me when there are new posts to this thread
- Comment Policy
Cancel Reply

Add a Comment

For your comment to be published, you will need to confirm your email address after submitting your comment.

If you already have an account, click here to log in.

First Name:

Last Name:

Email:

Create Password:

Comment

Check Spelling

Email me when there are new posts to this thread
Comment Policy

Comments on Change.org are meant for further exploration and evaluation of the ideas covered in the posts. To that end, we welcome constructive comments. However, we reserve the right to delete comments that are offensive, abusive, or off-topic; that contain ad hominem attacks; or that are designed to subvert or hijack comment threads rather than contribute to them. Repeat offenders may be permanently removed from the site at our discretion.

Author

Michael is the Communications Director for the Human Rights Program at Harvard Law School, and previously was Communications Director for Pax Christi USA, a progressive Catholic human rights organization.