New York, N.Y. -- Today President Obama announced the appointment of Jeffrey S. Crowley, M.P.H. to Director of the Office of National AIDS Policy (ONAP). Crowley, an openly gay man, will help lead the Administration's response to HIV/AIDS and disability policies. Most recently, he was a Senior Research Scholar at Georgetown University's Health Policy Institute and a Senior Scholar at the O'Neill Institute for National and Global Health Law, Georgetown University Law Center. Crowley also served as Deputy Executive Director of Programs at the National Association of People with AIDS (NAPWA).
"We are so encouraged that President Obama has selected a leader from within the HIV/AIDS advocacy and service delivery field," said Marjorie J. Hill, PhD, Chief Executive Officer at Gay Men's Health Crisis. "We look forward to working with Mr. Crowley and the White House in the coming years, particularly as we have been anxiously awaiting this appointment to begin development of a national AIDS strategy," added Hill.
The news of the ONAP appointment comes just days after announcement that the fiscal year 2009 omnibus bill contains financial support for ONAP, specifically for the development of a national AIDS strategy. GMHC and other national partners were instrumental in the successful advocacy for the $1.4 million. This critical support has been secured so that ONAP can immediately begin work on the strategy.
President Obama today also unveiled plans for his proposed fiscal year 2010 budget , which would fund the federal government from October 2009 - September 2010. The budget outline (full budget details to be released in April) includes enhanced resources for HIV prevention and treatment "to detect, prevent, and treat HIV/AIDS domestically, especially in underserved populations."
"We applaud President Obama for recognizing the increased HIV prevention and treatment demands our society faces," said Hill. "For too long the HIV prevention community attempted to lower HIV infection rates with severely limited resources. Finally the new leadership in Washington indicates support for slowing the HIV epidemic in the United States," concluded Hill.
