The DC government’s efforts to combat HIV and AIDS got a mixed review in a new “report card” from local think tank DC Appleseed. The District is getting better at testing, condom distribution, and access to clean syringes, the group said, but it also fell back along to several benchmarks.
The report was the eighth annual survey of the District’s AIDS policy published by DC Appleseed, which receives the bulk of its funding from a coalition of law firms.
The DC Department of Health reported in September that about 15,000 residents suffer from HIV or AIDS. The study released today found 718 new cases in 2012.
“It is a reminder that we still have a long way to go to end the epidemic,” DC Appleseed Executive Director Walter Smith said in a press release. “DC government, service providers, and the community need to work together as partners now more than ever.”
But government leadership is one of the five categories in which the District lost points, falling from a “B” to a “B-minus.” DC Appleseed pins the falling grade on fewer public statements about the subject by Mayor Vince Gray and a lack of transparency from city health agencies.
The District also lost points on patient tracking, grant management, and surveillance of the disease. But the report card was harshest toward HIV/AIDS education in city schools. While DC Public Schools received a “B-plus” for curriculum and professional development, charter schools were smacked for having “glaring inadequacies” in educating their students about the illness. Forty-four percent of the District’s school-aged youth attend charter schools.
Benjamin Freed joined Washingtonian in August 2013 and covers politics, business, and media. He was previously the editor of DCist and has also written for Washington City Paper, the New York Times, the New Republic, Slate, and BuzzFeed. He lives in Adams Morgan.
DC Government’s AIDS Policy Gets Mixed Reviews
The District has a long way to go in fighting the AIDS epidemic, a local think tank says.
The DC government’s efforts to combat HIV and AIDS got a mixed review in a new “report card” from local think tank DC Appleseed. The District is getting better at testing, condom distribution, and access to clean syringes, the group said, but it also fell back along to several benchmarks.
The report was the eighth annual survey of the District’s AIDS policy published by DC Appleseed, which receives the bulk of its funding from a coalition of law firms.
The DC Department of Health reported in September that about 15,000 residents suffer from HIV or AIDS. The study released today found 718 new cases in 2012.
“It is a reminder that we still have a long way to go to end the epidemic,” DC Appleseed Executive Director Walter Smith said in a press release. “DC government, service providers, and the community need to work together as partners now more than ever.”
But government leadership is one of the five categories in which the District lost points, falling from a “B” to a “B-minus.” DC Appleseed pins the falling grade on fewer public statements about the subject by Mayor Vince Gray and a lack of transparency from city health agencies.
The District also lost points on patient tracking, grant management, and surveillance of the disease. But the report card was harshest toward HIV/AIDS education in city schools. While DC Public Schools received a “B-plus” for curriculum and professional development, charter schools were smacked for having “glaring inadequacies” in educating their students about the illness. Forty-four percent of the District’s school-aged youth attend charter schools.
Benjamin Freed joined Washingtonian in August 2013 and covers politics, business, and media. He was previously the editor of DCist and has also written for Washington City Paper, the New York Times, the New Republic, Slate, and BuzzFeed. He lives in Adams Morgan.
Most Popular in News & Politics
5 Facts About Dumfries, Virginia, the Possible New Home of the Washington Commanders
Washington DC’s 500 Most Influential People
Trucker Convoy Stragglers Get Kicked Out of Racetrack, Form New Movement, Visit the National Mall, Don’t Go Home
2022 Tech Titans
Number of Chesapeake Bay Blue Crabs Hits Record Low
Washingtonian Magazine
May 2022: Fantastic Foodie Getaways
View IssueSubscribe
Follow Us on Social
Follow Us on Social
Related
A Johnny Cash Statue Is Coming to the Capitol
LGBTQ Pioneer Barney Frank’s Story Is Now a Graphic Novel
Inside the Effort to Revamp the DC Archives
This DC Poet Was Once the USSR’s Biggest Kid Actor
More from News & Politics
Should We Care About What’s Left of the Trucker Convoy?
5 Facts About Dumfries, Virginia, the Possible New Home of the Washington Commanders
Trucker Convoy Stragglers Get Kicked Out of Racetrack, Form New Movement, Visit the National Mall, Don’t Go Home
The Trucker Convoy Has Given Up on DC Yet Again. We Tried One Last Time to Find Out What They Wanted.
Number of Chesapeake Bay Blue Crabs Hits Record Low
The Lincoln Memorial Is 100 Years Old. Here’s How to Celebrate It.
The Hill’s Newsroom Petitions to Unionize
2022 Tech Titans