While D.C. Mayor Anthony Williams touted the success of his government reform initiatives by celebrating the millionth caller to the Citywide Call Center yesterday, he was similarly forced to acknowledge failure in a simmering, city-wide health crisis.

Faced with mounting criticism of ineffective plans to reduce and cope with the city’s high prevalance of AIDS, Williams yesterday fired Lydia L. Watts from her position as head of the city’s HIV/AIDS Administration. Her dismissal comes in the wake of a critical report issued by the D.C. Appleseed Center for Law and Justice, which accused the city of being 10 to 15 years behind in mounting an effective campaign against the disease. According to the report and a Post editorial published today, the District’s rate of infection, 1 in 20, ranks the city, if it were a sovereign country, 11th in the world in the prevalence of HIV, though the lack of reliable data could push that number higher. In a chat earlier last week, Dr. Philippe Chiliade, medical director of the Whitman-Walker Clinic, admitted that the District’s AIDS rate was ten times the national average.

The HIV/AIDS problem in the District has been caused by understaffing at the HAA, consistent financial difficulties and layoffs at the Whitman-Walker Clinic, and a Congressional prohibition on needle-exchange programs. Last week Williams promised to create a taskforce to deal with the issue.