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| Agency overview | |
|---|---|
| Formed | July 27, 1995 |
| Jurisdiction | U.S. Government |
| Agency executives |
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The Presidential Advisory Council on HIV/AIDS (PACHA) advises the White House and the Secretary of Health and Human Services on the US government's response to the AIDS epidemic. The commission was formed by President Bill Clinton in 1995 and each president since has renewed the council's charter. [1]
The Council was not the first presidential inquiry into HIV. In 1987, Ronald Reagan appointed the President's Commission on the HIV Epidemic (1987–88) to investigate the AIDS epidemic. This was followed by the National Commission on AIDS (1989–1993).[ citation needed ]
Six members resigned in protest of President Donald Trump's health policies in June 2017, [2] and the remaining ten members were dismissed by Trump on 28 December 2017. While PACHA did not meet in 2018, it was restaffed in 2019 [3] and reconvened in March, June, and October 2019. [4] [5]
On Dec. 11, 2018, Secretary Alex Azar of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services nominated Carl Schmid and John Weisman to serve as PACHA co-chairs [6] when the council reconvened on March 14–15, 2019. [7] Schmid is deputy executive director of The AIDS Institute, and a longtime leader and activist on HIV issues. [8] Weisman is the secretary of health for Washington state and past president of the Association of State and Territorial Health Officers. [9]
The current PACHA members are: [10]
| Office | Image | Incumbent | Career and notes | In office |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Co-chair | John Wiesman | Washington State Secretary of Health | 2018–present | |
| Co-chair | Carl Schmid | Deputy director at the AIDS Institute | 2018–present | |
| Member | Michael Saag | Director of the University of Alabama at Birmingham Center for AIDS Research | 2019–present | |
| Member |  | Robert A. Schwartz | Professor and head of dermatology at Rutgers University | 2019–present |
| Member | Marc Meachem | Head of External Affairs at ViiV Healthcare | 2019–present | |
| Member | Gregg Alton | Chief patient officer at Gilead Sciences | 2019–present | |
| Member | Ada Stewart | Lead provider at Eau Claire Cooperative Health Centers | 2019–present | |
| Member | Wendy Holman | Chief executive officer at Ridgeback Biotherapeutics | 2019–present | |
| Member | Rafaelé Roberto Narváez | Director of health programs at Latinos Salud | 2019–present | |
| Member | Justin C. Smith | Behavioral scientist, Rollins School of Public Health, Emory University | 2019–present | |
| Member | John Sapero | Office chief, HIV prevention program, Arizona Department of Health Services | 2019–present |
Through 2018, the HIV.gov website (run by the U.S. Department of Health & Human Services) was not updated and continued to display two previous PACHA staff: B. Kaye Hayes, MPA, executive director, and Caroline Talev, MPA, public health analyst. [11]
 | This section needs to be updated.(April 2016) |
Critics have said they lack confidence in PACHA and note that the council as reorganized under President Bush held only two meetings in 2002 and issued only five recommendations to the White House. By comparison, the President's Commission on the HIV Epidemic (Watkins Commission) submitted 597 recommendations to the Reagan Administration.
The Union of Concerned Scientists released a report in February 2004 entitled Scientific Integrity in Policymaking that said that President Bush intentionally appointed under-qualified individuals to PACHA as part of a broader effort to manipulate the government's scientific advisory system by providing the appearance of expert advice while controlling the advice given.
Critics pointed to the appointment of Dr. Joseph McIlhaney, a Texas-based doctor known for rejecting the use of condoms to prevent the spread of HIV and other sexually transmitted diseases and for his advocacy of abstinence-only programs despite negligible evidence that they reduce pregnancy rates among young people.
Six members of the committee resigned in June 2017, citing as the reason that the president, "has no strategy to address the ongoing HIV/AIDS epidemic, seeks zero input from experts to formulate HIV policy, and—most concerning—pushes legislation that will harm people living with HIV and halt or reverse important gains made in the fight against this disease". In December 2017 Trump dismissed all the remaining 16 members. Gabriel Maldonado, a former member of PACHA, said in a Washington Post article "Like any administration, they want their own people there," identifying "ideological and philosophical differences" and that many of the remaining members, including her, were appointed by former president Barack Obama. "I was co-chair of the disparities committee," Maldonado added, "so much of my advocacy and policy references surrounded vulnerable populations, addressing issuing of diverse communities, specifically looking at the impacts of the LGBT community, namely, the disproportionate impact of HIV and AIDS to people of color, gay men, transgender women...and a lot of those key vulnerable populations are not being prioritized in this administration." Newsweek stated that there were fears that "the charter for PACHA will be re-written with renewed focus on abstinence and religious, non-evidence based public health approaches." [13]
Sir Peter Karel, Baron Piot, is a Belgian-British microbiologist known for his research into Ebola and AIDS.
The President's Commission on the HIV Epidemic was a commission formed by President Ronald Reagan in 1987 to investigate the AIDS pandemic. It is also known as the Watkins Commission for James D. Watkins, its chairman when the commission issued its final report in 1988.
In the United States, a presidential commission is a special task force ordained by the president to complete a specific, special investigation or research. They are often quasi-judicial in nature; that is, they include public or in-camera hearings.
The President's Council of Advisors on Science and Technology (PCAST) is a council, chartered in each administration with a broad mandate to advise the president of the United States on science and technology. The current PCAST was established by Executive Order 13226 on September 30, 2001, by George W. Bush, was re-chartered by Barack Obama's April 21, 2010, Executive Order 13539, by Donald Trump's October 22, 2019, Executive Order 13895, and by Joe Biden's February 1, 2021, Executive Order 14007.
The Office of National AIDS Policy, established under President Clinton in 1993, coordinates the continuing domestic efforts to implement the President's National HIV/AIDS Strategy. In addition, the office works to coordinate an increasingly integrated approach to the prevention, care and treatment of HIV/AIDS. As a unit of the Domestic Policy Council, the Office of National AIDS Policy coordinates with other White House offices. It is led by a director, who is appointed by the president.
Membership in the Council on Foreign Relations comes in two types: Individual and Corporate. Individual memberships are further subdivided into two types: Life Membership and Term Membership, the latter of which is for a single period of five years and is available to those between the ages of 30 and 36 at the time of their application. Only U.S. citizens and permanent residents who have applied for U.S. citizenship are eligible. A candidate for life membership must be nominated in writing by one Council member and seconded by a minimum of three others.
Risa J. Lavizzo-Mourey is an American medical doctor and executive who served as president and CEO of the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation from 2003 to 2017. She was the first woman and the first African-American to head the foundation, which has an endowment of about $8 billion and distributes more than $400 million a year. She has been named one of the 100 Most Powerful Women by Forbes several times, and one of The Grio's History Makers in the Making. She was elected a Member of the American Philosophical Society in 2016.
The National Space Council is a body within the Executive Office of the President of the United States created in 1989 during the George H. W. Bush administration, disbanded in 1993, and reestablished in June 2017 by the Donald Trump administration. It is a modified version of the earlier National Aeronautics and Space Council (1958–1973).
Michael D. Knox, is an American educator, psychologist, author, and Anti-war activist, living in Dunedin, Florida. He is an Emeritus Distinguished University Professor in the Department of Mental Health Law and Policy; Affiliate Distinguished Professor, in the Department of Internal Medicine; and Affiliate Distinguished Professor Emeritus of Global Health at the University of South Florida (USF) in Tampa, Florida.
Geeta Rao Gupta is a leader on gender, women's issues, and HIV/AIDS who is serving as United States Ambassador-at-Large for Global Women's Issues since May 2023. She previously served as executive director of the 3D Program for Girls and Women and senior fellow at the United Nations Foundation since 2017. She is frequently consulted on issues related to AIDS prevention and women's vulnerability to HIV and is an advocate for women's economic and social empowerment to fight disease, poverty and hunger.
Agnes Binagwaho is a Rwandan Politician, pediatrician, co-founder and the former vice chancellor of the University of Global Health Equity (2017-2022). In 1996, she returned to Rwanda where she provided clinical care in the public sector as well as held many positions including the position of Permanent Secretary for the Ministry of Health of Rwanda from October 2008 until May 2011 and Minister of Health from May 2011 until July 2016. She has been a professor of global health delivery practice since 2016 and a professor of pediatrics since 2017 at the University of Global Health Equity. She has served the health sector in various high-level government positions. She resides in Kigali.
Brett P. Giroir is an American pediatrician. He was formerly the U.S. assistant secretary for health, a four-star admiral in the U.S. Public Health Service Commissioned Corps and an acting Food and Drug Administration commissioner.
The U.S. National Commission on AIDS was established by a statute enacted November 4, 1988, with the aim of "promoting the development of a national consensus on policy concerning acquired immune deficiency syndrome [AIDS]". It produced several reports over the next 4 years.
Mary Jane Rotheram-Borus is a licensed clinical psychologist and professor with the University of California, Los Angeles, Department of Psychiatry and Biobehavioral Sciences. Rotheram is the professor-in-residence in the Semel Institute for Neuroscience and Human Behavior. She is the Director of the Global Center for Children and Families at UCLA and the former director of the Center for HIV Identification, Prevention, and Treatment Services.
Salim S. Abdool Karim, MBChB, MMed, MS(Epi), FFPHM, FFPath (Virol), DipData, PhD, DSc(hc), FRS is a South African public health physician, epidemiologist and virologist who has played a leading role in the AIDS and COVID-19 pandemic. His scientific contributions have impacted the landscape of HIV prevention and treatment, saving thousands of lives.
James W. Curran is professor of epidemiology and dean of the Rollins School of Public Health at Emory University. He is an adjunct Professor of Medicine and Nursing, and Co-Director and Principal Investigator of the Emory Center for AIDS Research. He is immediate past chair of the board on Population Health and Public Health Practice of the Institute of Medicine and served on the Executive Committee of the Association of Schools of Public Health. Additionally, he holds an endowed chair known as the James W. Curran Dean of Public Health. Curran is considered to be a pioneer, leader, and expert in the field of HIV/AIDS.
Deborah Leah Birx is an American physician and diplomat who served as the White House Coronavirus Response Coordinator under President Donald J. Trump from 2020 to 2021. Birx specializes in HIV/AIDS immunology, vaccine research, and global health. Starting in 2014, she oversaw the implementation of the President's Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR) program to support HIV/AIDS treatment and prevention programs in 65 countries. From 2014-2020, Birx was the United States global AIDS coordinator for presidents Barack Obama and Donald J. Trump and served as the United States special representative for global health diplomacy between 2015 and 2021. Birx was part of the White House Coronavirus Task Force from February 2020 to January 2021. In March 2021, Birx joined ActivePure Technology as Chief Medical and Science Advisor.
Cynthia Ann Gómez is an American psychologist who works in public health. She is known for her work in the field of HIV/AIDS prevention, health care access and health equity for minority individuals and committees. Likewise, one of her most major accomplishments was being the founding director of the Health Equity Institute at San Francisco State University. She has been a teacher and researcher, as well as a leader in both teaching and governmental positions.
Adaora Alise Adimora was an American doctor and academic. She was the Sarah Graham Kenan Distinguished Professor of Medicine and professor of epidemiology at the University of North Carolina School of Medicine. Her research centered on the transmission of HIV, as well as other sexually transmitted infections (STIs), among minority populations. Her work highlighted the importance of social determinants of HIV transmission and the need for structural interventions to reduce risk. In 2019, she became an elected member of the National Academy of Medicine in recognition of her contributions.
Ligia Peralta is a Dominican-born doctor of pediatrics and adolescent medicine in Maryland. Her research focuses on HIV and the transmission of HIV in adolescents, specifically those from under-served communities.
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