CONNECTIONS
A Bimonthly e-Newsletter
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Director's Update
March - April 2014
Dr. Jonathan Mermin
Director, NCHHSTP
Greetings! After a tumultuous budget process in 2013, the Fiscal Year (FY) 2014 Consolidated Appropriations Act was signed into law on January 17, 2014. The law appropriated approximately $1.073 billion for HIV/AIDS, Viral Hepatitis, STI, and TB prevention for this year. While this is lower than our FY 2012 budget, it does restore some of the reductions resulting from the FY 2013 sequester. In addition, the FY 2015 President’s Budget request was provided to Congress on March 3, 2014. A total of $1.128 billion is requested for our focus diseases, which includes an increase of $7 million for HIV prevention above the FY 2014 appropriations. Approximately $4 million of the increase would be used to improve HIV surveillance, testing, and other prevention interventions to most efficiently target prevention and treatment programs. The remaining $3 million is Public Health Service Evaluation Funds that would be used to assess and enhance HIV school health efforts. The request maintains level funding for viral hepatitis, STD, and TB prevention programs. For more information, please visit the CDC Budget Information webpage.
World TB Day
Each year, World TB Day is recognized on March 24 as a day to raise awareness about TB-related problems and solutions and to support worldwide TB-control efforts. This year’s theme—“Find TB. Treat TB. Working together to eliminate TB.”—highlights that TB is still a life-threatening problem in the United States, despite the declining number of TB cases. A variety of online resources (in English and Spanish) are available to educate, raise awareness, and assist you in developing your own World TB Day messages and materials. Also, CDC will host a Public Health Grand Rounds on multidrug-resistant tuberculosis on Tuesday, March 18, 1:00 p.m. EST, and TB-related articles will be released in CDC’s Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report and Emerging Infectious Diseases journal on or around World TB Day. Both the Grand Rounds and these soon-to-be-released publications will help you stay abreast of the latest on TB control efforts.
April is STD Awareness Month
April marks our annual observance of STD Awareness Month. Individuals, health care providers, and community-based organizations are encouraged to bring a renewed enthusiasm and focus to their STD awareness and prevention efforts throughout the month. People who have STDs are more likely to get or spread HIV compared to people who do not. So while there are numerous advantages to preventing STDs, the reduced risk of HIV infection is also a reason we need to encourage testing and treatment for gonorrhea, syphilis, and other STDs. CDC's website offers many resources to help raise awareness and promote prevention, testing, and treatment of STDs, including the recently revised Fact Sheets available for download. As well, CDC has an active and engaging STD-focused Twitter account. Follow @CDCSTD to get the latest news in STD prevention.
New from CDC
2012 STD Surveillance Report Released
2013 Prevention Status Reports Released
Upcoming Events
March 18, 2014
CDC Grand Rounds: Multidrug-resistant Tuberculosis
March 20, 2014
National Native HIV/AIDS Awareness Day
March 24, 2014
World TB Day
April 2014
STD Awareness Month