ACRIA: A recognized international leader on the issue of older adults with HIV

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 Although many Americans consider HIV/AIDS as an issue belonging to decades past, there are still so many adults who are living with the disease today and dealing with the AIDS stigma. Fortunately, many organizations, like The AIDS Community Research Initiative of America (ACRIA), recognize the struggle that AIDS/HIV victims battle against.


ACRIA, through its Center on HIV and Aging, has been recognized as a leading proponent on the issue of older adults with HIV. The Center examines, determines, and pursues solutions to a wide range of problems faced by aging adults living with AIDS or HIV. Its efforts are focus on research, education, and advocacy promoting information dissemination not only to lay communities but also to scientific organizations and various AIDS service providers. Furthermore, the Center seeks to conduct open exchanges or dialogues among these entities to support the development of public policy guidelines, identify needs that haven’t been addressed, enhance the delivery of healthcare services, and advance research efforts to fill in information gaps.

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Other initiatives that ACRIA has been involved in include the following:

• Participating in nationwide conferences on HIV and aging.
• Leading the move to save the New York State AIDS Institute.
• Partnering with other organizations, like the HelpAge International and Terrence Higgins Trust, in conducting a worldwide sign-on letter to UNAIDS on HIV and aging.

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ACRIA recognizes CDC’s predictions that half of those suffering from HIV in the US will be over 50 years old by 2015. With this data, consolidated effort from both government and non-government sectors should have a significant push to improve the quality of life of this underserved population.

Business maven Alex von Furstenberg serves on the National Council of ACRIA. Find more links to articles and discussions on various health advocacies by following this Twitter page.

The unsuspecting victims: Providing support to pediatric AIDS victims

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If the mere thought of AIDS scares a lot of people, then they might want to think about this: “More than 1,000 children are newly infected with HIV every day, and of these more than half will die as a result of AIDS because of a lack of access to HIV treatment.” That means for each day, there are thousands of children who undeservingly get afflicted with a disease they are unfamiliar with; who suffer the consequences of a disease they have had no involvement with; who die in the hands of an incurable plague even before their eyes open up to the truth. Such are dreadful afterthoughts, but they are part of reality. 

This is where the Elizabeth Glaser Pediatric AIDS Foundation (EPGAF) comes in: to spare the children from the repercussions of the dreaded disease.

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Founded in 1988 as an answer to a mother’s fight to save her children from the pangs of AIDS, EPGAF has been instrumental in helping the cause to virtually eliminating pediatric AIDS in the US and Europe. However, the fight does not stop there. In other parts of the world, particularly in Africa, many children still become infected with HIV, as 90 percent contract the virus through mother-to-child transmission.

As long as there are children who, by a cruel twist of fate, have become the unwanted carriers of this infamous pandemic, EPGAF will not rest in fighting for its cause: a world where children can play without fear from AIDS.

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The Elizabeth Glaser Pediatric AIDS Foundation is able to fulfill its mission through the generosity of philanthropists, such as Alex von Furstenberg. Learn more about Mr. von Furstenberg’s philanthropic endeavors by visiting his official website.

AIDS Community Research Initiative of America: Staying hopeful amid the epidemic

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When AIDS first hit the country in the 1980s, it was like hitting on death’s head. The AIDS epidemic was considered as one of the most serious health-related events of the 20th century. It created a stir on the financial, social, and healthcare sectors in their struggle of coping with the epidemic. The development of antiretroviral drugs in the following years has somewhat raised hope to AIDS victims and their families. However, the high cost of these drugs makes them almost inaccessible to many.

As several states suffer the pangs of AIDS, community-based organizations, like the New York-based AIDS Community Research Initiative of America (ACRIA), have heeded to the battle cry of AIDS/HIV patients.

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First known as the Community Research Initiative on AIDS (CRIA), ACRIA is composed of a group of physicians, activists, and HIV victims who are frustrated by the slow pace of government and academic AIDS research. The dynamic group of AIDS physicians and researchers, like Drs. Joseph Sonnabend, Mathilde Krim, and Michael Callen, engaged in an aggressive approach to the study of new treatments for HIV and AIDS. Since ACRIA’s inception in 1991, it has been contributing to the development of medications to combat the disease. As stated by the organization, “We have contributed to the development of more than a dozen medications that have received FDA approval, helping countless thousands of HIV-positive people live longer, healthier lives.”

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Philanthropist Alex von Furstenberg is one of the benefactors of ACRIA. This Facebook page provides more updates on his humanitarian initiatives.