Honor Roll
''Report Card'' improves D.C. standing in HIV fight
DC Appleseed Center for Law and Justice, an organization that tackles a variety of issues in solving problems that affect D.C. residents and employees, last week released its fourth report card evaluating the District’s HIV/AIDS-related efforts.
Overall, D.C. shows signs of improvement, receiving only As and Bs, with the exception of a C for efforts in D.C. public schools. But even that is an improvement from the last assessment, which graded the schools a D.
Other categories showing improvement include interagency coordination, rapid and routine HIV testing, syringe-exchange services and substance-abuse treatment. DC Appleseed has been evaluating the city’s HIV/AIDS services since 2005. The fourth report card marks D.C.’s highest ratings thus far.
The new report card examined January through September of 2008.
”Today’s report card confirms more than ever that the District of Columbia has the know-how and plans in place to reverse the HIV epidemic,” Mayor Adrian Fenty said in the Sept. 24 release accompanying the report.
”With our community partners, we are ready to improve and safeguard the health of District residents from this preventable disease.”
The District has the highest HIV infection rate in the country.
To view the DC Appleseed report card, with detailed summary for each grade, visit www.dcappleseed.org.
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