A Unified Front Against AIDS
relationship between the states and the federal government slow the collection of data by the supposedly most central authority—the federal government.
The question of the current relevance of these problems now arises. Have changes been made since the advent of the AIDS crisis? The answer seems to be a hesitant “yes.” The hesitancy stems from the fact that although the inadequacy of the national response to AIDS is widely recognized, few concrete changes have taken effect to resolve the inadequacy. On July 2, 1992, the Human Resources and Intergovernmental Relations Subcommittee of the Committee on Government Operations in the House of Representatives heard testimony concerning the politics of AIDS prevention at the CDC. The issues that were addressed included the allocation of resources between prevention research and cure research, and the need for an increase of allocation to the former. The hearing includes a discussion of the difficulties within the federal government, specifically within the CDC, in assessing the most efficient use of funds. The lack of coordination amongst public and private research serves as one of the main obstacles—again, a lack of coordination.
In a NIH AIDS Research Program Evaluation concluded in 1997, the Working Group, responsible for this study, reported a need for the better integration and coordination of private and public researchers. The report also calls for a rededication to basic research initiatives, and with them a redistribution of funds. Research to prevent HIV transmission is also stressed. It quickly becomes clear that there are similarities between problems within the CDC and the NIH themselves, let alone the problems in communication and cooperation between the two institutions.
The original problems in presenting a united front against AIDS when it first appeared still haunt the health care community. Education can change prejudices and social stigmas that interfere with the prevention of HIV transmission, but the coordination necessary for this education must come from a strong, centralized public health organization, in order to ensure maximum efficiency and expediency in addressing the complex and varying issues in a health care crisis such as AIDS. Unfortunately, no such organization exists. This does not bode well for the future, where the possibility of a new health crisis is ever-present, while the health care system remains unprepared.