Norton Using D.C.'s Remarkable Progress On Curbing HIV/AIDS Epidemic to Prevent More Needle Exchange Riders

Press Release

Following the release of the District's annual report on HIV/AIDS by Mayor Vincent Gray today, Congresswoman Eleanor Holmes Norton (D-DC) praised the District of Columbia on its "huge progress to erase the city's HIV/AIDS epidemic."

"The city deserves congratulations from every D.C. resident on its remarkable progress in containing HIV/AIDS, particularly its report of zero babies born with HIV and the tripling of D.C.'s HIV testing rate," Norton said. "The city's greatest progress was in getting close to no HIV drug injection transmission cases. The heart of the city's epidemic was generated by the Republicans' ten years of attachments to D.C. appropriations bills barring the city's needle exchange program. The city's progress encourages our efforts that have kept the deadly rider from returning by consistently emphasizing the progress D.C. continues to make."

In 2008, Norton was successful in removing from the annual Financial Services Appropriations bill the rider banning D.C. from funding its needle exchange program. Before Norton got the D.C. needle exchange rider removed, the HIV/AIDS rate in D.C. had jumped to first in the nation, and thousands of residents had been infected or died.bil

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