AIDS ACTION COUNCIL ELECTS BOARD OF DIRECTORS LEADERSHIP

CRAIG E. THOMPSON OF AIDS PROJECT LOS ANGELES TO CHAIR BOARD IN 2004

March 30, 2004, Los Angeles, CA - The AIDS Action Council (AAC), a Washington, DC-based organization representing health departments, community-based organizations, and AIDS service organizations across the country, today announced the results of its annual Board leadership election on March 27. Steering the Board as chairperson in 2004 will be Craig E. Thompson, executive director of AIDS Project Los Angeles (APLA).

Other Board elections announced today include Joe Interrante, executive director of Nashville CARES (Community AIDS Resource, Education, Services) as vice chair; A. Cornelius Baker, executive director of the Whitman-Walker Clinic in Washington, DC, as secretary; and Ken Malone, executive director of the Assistance Fund in Houston, TX, as treasurer. Ronald Johnson, associate executive director of the Gay Men’s Health Crisis (GMHC) in New York City, completed his two-year term as chairperson and will continue to serve on the boards of both AAC and the AIDS Action Foundation.

“It will be a great honor to chair the AIDS Action Council Board, which not only represents the full scope of the domestic HIV epidemic but also the best thinking about an effective response,” said Mr. Thompson. “I look forward to working with the AIDS Action Council to ensure that federal HIV/AIDS programs and policies support the needs of all people living with HIV in the United States and the organizations and agencies that serve them.”

AAC supports advocacy and lobby activity around the most current legislative, administrative, and social programs and policies as they are formulated in Washington and across the country. Issues it has identified for the 2004 agenda include: strengthening and improving the Ryan White CARE Act; improving access to HIV care, treatment and medications; improving HIV/AIDS reporting, notification, testing and counseling; and working with its members, coalition partners, and the administration to encourage the participation of communities of faith in HIV prevention, care and support services.

AIDS Project Los Angeles, one of the nation’s largest AIDS service organizations, provides direct services to more than 10,000 men, women and children living with HIV or AIDS in Los Angeles County each year. Services include prevention education, food banks and nutrition education, professional dental care, housing assistance, transportation, mental health counseling, case management and home health care. APLA is a leader in the provision of bilingual HIV treatment information, in print and on the Internet, and advocates for effective AIDS-related policies and legislation on the local, state and federal level. For more information, please visit www.apla.org.

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