Biden says HIV/AIDS strategy needs to confront inequity

By AAMER MADHANI
Associated Press

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Joe Biden has unveiled his new HIV/AIDS strategy to end the more than 40-year-old epidemic, calling for a renewed focus on vulnerable Americans. The new strategy asserts that gay and bisexual Black and Latino men are too often stigmatized even as they are disproportionately affected by HIV. The new strategy, which declares racism a “public health threat,” was released Wednesday on the annual commemoration of World AIDS Day.  It is meant to serve as a framework for how the administration shapes its policies, research, programs and planning over the next three years. The epidemic has killed more than 36 million worldwide, including 700,000 Americans.