December 1 is World AIDS Day, and several vigils and protests are planned in D.C. today and through the weekend to mark the occasion. In the wake of the recent report by the D.C. HIV/AIDS Administration calling the HIV infection rate in the city “a modern epidemic,” over 40 protesters are planning to drape themselves in red tape and stage a sit-in on the White House sidewalk by Lafayette Square at 2:30 p.m. this afternoon….

The condom saga continues, as community groups have returned as many as 70,000 of the D.C.-branded condoms provided by the health department. Despite assuring the public that the condoms, which bear the slogan “Coming Together to Stop HIV in D.C.”, are safe and effective, the city eventually gave in and agreed to phase them out, agreeing that they were now so mistrusted as to no longer be effective, de facto. The uproar began when the…

>> Mayor Fenty has named Shannon Lee Hader, an epidemiologist and public health physician who has directed the U.S. AIDS program in Zimbabwe, to head the District’s HIV/AIDS Administration. [WaPo] >> D.C. Law enforcement officials are trying to seize control of a house at 1923 Rhode Island Avenue NE, a long-time location for illicit activity. [WJLA] >> A small plane crash landed in the Hollywood area of St. Mary’s County. Two of three passengers…

We get it: Mayor Fenty is one helluva busy guy. In his first few months on the job, he’s hit the ground running on issues ranging from public safety to schools to Congressional representation. One area where some residents feel he’s been curiously quiet, though, is on the District’s ongoing HIV/AIDS crisis. Among them is the newly formed Metro D.C.chapter of The Campaign to End AIDS (C2EA), which writes that with “Adrian Fenty’s first 100…

We noted earlier this month that D.C. Mayor Adrian Fenty planned to overhaul the D.C. Department of Health in his first 100 days, and the Examiner reports that this is well under way. Earlier this week the pyramid underneath reappointed Director Gregg Pane got a little narrower, as the eleven agencies were consolidated into seven, and a number of senior deputies and chiefs of staff were let go. Notably, pregnancy prevention and care and school…

When we last checked in on the state of HIV/AIDS in the District last August, things were looking rather grim. A report published by the D.C. Appleseed Center for Law and Justice lambasted the District’s efforts to deal with a severe HIV/AIDS crisis in the city, noting that the District remained some 10 to 15 years behind where it should be in mounting a defense against the disease. Shockingly, the report found that the District’s…

World AIDS Day, observed today, has particular relevance and importance for the District. The city has the distinction of suffering from one of the nation’s highest rates of HIV infection, afflicting 1 in 20 residents, ten times the national average, and 1 in 7 African-American men. The District’s response to the problem has been so ineffectual (some say the city is 10 to 15 years behind where it should be) that in August D.C. Mayor…

Traffic Cameras Failing to Prevent Accidents: D.C. drivers may hate them, but may also grudgingly accept their use in preventing serious accidents cause by red light running and speeding through city streets. But according to the Post, the city’s 45 traffic enforcement cameras may not even be doing that all that well. While generating over 500,000 tickets and $32 million in revenue over the last six years of their use, the cameras have thus…

The Washington Business Journal broke the news late last night that the director of the District Department of Health, Gregg Pane, has chosen Marsha Martin, a longtime HIV/AIDS activist and director of the non-profit organization AIDS Action, to head up the city’s troubled HIV/AIDS Administration (HAA). Once the appointment is officially announced, Martin would take the helm of an understaffed government bureaucracy which has been accused of failing to adequately address the HIV/AIDS crisis in…

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…