Burr seeks HIV funds

By Patrick Campbell - Monday, March 27th, 2006 - Roanoke-Chowan News-Herald

WINTON - United States Senator Richard Burr (R-NC) returned to Hertford County on Thursday.

Burr attended a HIV roundtable discussion in Winton at the Hertford County Public Health Authority building. Hertford County Public Health Director Curtis Dickson, HC Director of Community Health Services Susan Askew, HC Public Health Authority Director of Nursing Diane McLawhorn, Rev. Patrick Young of the New Ahoskie Baptist Church, North Carolina AIDS Director Evelyn Foust and Dr. Thomas Kerkering from East Carolina University Brody School of Medicine attended the roundtable along with other health professionals and interested parties from the area.

“My goal is to reauthorize the Ryan White Act and to obtain a more equitable distribution of funds,” Burr said.

The Ryan White Comprehensive AIDS Resources Emergency (CARE) Act is Federal legislation that addresses the unmet health needs of persons living with HIV/AIDS by funding primary health care and support services. The act was named after Ryan White, an Indiana teenager whose struggle with HIV/AIDS and against AIDS-related discrimination helped educate the nation.

A significant part of the education provided by Ryan White, was that a large number of people are infected with HIV/AIDs through no fault of their own. This includes innocent children and women who are exposed through the acts of husbands and fathers. The image that only drug adicts and gays are infected is simply not true. With the number of new strains of HIV and AIDS coming out of Africa, it is important that we not lose sight of the importance of finishing the battle against this horrible disease. It still has the potential to be the epidemic that truly devastates our nation if we sit idly by.