HIV/AIDS Activists Detained During Protest at US Capitol

The 11 men and 15 women who were detained face charges of loud and boisterous behavior, unlawful assembly and disorderly conduct. As the protest began at 10 a.m those involved first bound themselves together with a white plastic chain, before chanting slogans such as "Fight global AIDS now" and "Clean needles save lives" as they marched around in a circle. Then, according to USA Today, they lay down on the floor waving signs in support of their cause. It was at that point that police intervened, arresting those who would not get to their feet and leave the building. The group who organized the protest is an alliance of five separate national activist organizations that includes Housing Works, DC Fights Back and New York City AIDS Network. Their aim was to draw attention to what they consider to be a failure by the Obama administration to allocate sufficient funds to the fight against HIV/AIDS. CNN reports that a statement was issued by the protesters via spokesperson Omolola Adele-Oso of DC Fights Back, which argued that:

HIV is not in recession. So why are we bailing out the bankers with $9 trillion, but breaking promises to fund life-saving AIDS programs in the U.S. and around the world at a fraction of that cost?

Another issue that the Health Global Access Project wishes to see addressed is that of the current ban, imposed at a federal level, on funding for syringe exchange. With over 13% of newly diagnosed HIV/AIDS cases in the USA during 2006 resulting from infected needles that were used to inject drugs, today's protesters believe that the availability of clean needles would make a significant reduction in the numbers of people who contract the disease in that manner. The figure quoted by the group was supplied by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), which is a government agency.