On July 19, 2010, Michael Shankle, our Director of Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender (LGBT) Health, sat down with Emily Rooney on WGBH's Greater Boston to discuss the ongoing ban on men who have sex with men donating blood.

Despite extensive measures to screen the blood supply for HIV and other infections, any man who has had sex with another man since 1977 is banned from donating blood for life. It is estimated that more than 89,000 pints of blood would become available for donation annually if MSM were allowed to donate.

Click here for more information on the segment and to view the video clip in full.  

On July 13, 2010 the Obama Administration released the first comprehensive national strategy to fight HIV/AIDS in the US, nearly 30 years after the disease took root.

The National AIDS Strategy is built on nearly three years of hard work and activism by grassroots advocates and local, state and national organizations, including AIDS Action Committee. Our mission at the start of this campaign was to commit the federal government to producing a coordinated, outcomes-based approach to fighting AIDS here at home. Our mission now is to ensure that this strategy is implemented in the most effective way possible.

Read an article in Bay Windows outlining AIDS Action Committee's involvement in developing the strategy. Read a statement from our partners at AIDS Action Council, the national advocacy organization based in Washington, DC, on the strategy's release. Visit the Coalition for a National AIDS Strategy for more detailed information. 

(Pictured: Rebecca Haag and members of the AIDS Action Council staff at the White House ceremony for the release of the NHAS.)

Effective July 1, 2010, AIDS Action Committee and Cambridge Cares About AIDS will begin operating as one agency under the AIDS Action Committee name. This exciting development comes after nearly two years of thoughtful, stakeholder-led strategic planning. The new organization will offer expanded programs for its clients, be even more effective in preventing new HIV infections in the Greater Boston area, and stand on stronger ground in advocating for fair and effective AIDS policies and maintaining funding for services and prevention at the local, state and federal levels.

Learn more at www.aac.org/merger.

We recently updated the HIV/AIDS Basics section of our website, where we answer 17 common questions about the virus, how it's transmitted, and what signifies greater risk for infection. Get the facts on HIV, and always if you have a specific HIV/STD or Hepatitis question, call our hotlines:

HIV/STD: 1-800-235-2331
Hepatitis: 1-888-443-4372

TTY and translation services are available. Click here for info.

Funded by a Tufts Health Plan Foundation/Healthy Aging Initiative grant, AIDS Action’s peer support team has launched a new group for people aged 60 and older: Positive Aging, Lasting Strength (PALS).

Targeting seniors infected with, affected by and at risk for HIV/AIDS, PALS will hold weekly exercise classes, wellness groups, nutritional consults, support groups, and monthly health forums, as well as one-on-one peer support. For more information, contact Emerson Miller at emiller@aac.org or 617.450.1221.