HIV prevention in minority community 'needs more money'

More money is needed for HIV prevention in the African American community in the US, according to a leading health expert.

The director of the Centre for Disease Control and Prevention, Dr Julie Gerberding, said that she is calling on the federal government to declare a "national public health emergency", reports the San Francisco Chronicle.

New proposals from the Bush administration have planned to reduce the centre's budget for HIV prevention and surveillance by $1 million (£500,000).

Ms Gerberding was speaking at a forum in West Oakland, and said: "You have to scale the money to the scope of the problem. The pie is only so big right now. What we need is a bigger pie."

50 per cent of people with HIV in the USA are of African American descent and in a recent study newly diagnosed HIV cases between 2001 and 2005 saw 61 per cent of new infections among this group.

During April, Kansas hosted the annual Black Church Week of Prayer for the Healing of Aids to bring attention of the Aids pandemic within the minority community to the forefront, reported the Kansas City Star.

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