College President Jim Yong Kim has been officially named to the Presidential Advisory Council on HIV/AIDS by Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius, according to a U.S. Department of Health and Human Services press release. The council "provides advice, information and recommendations to the President through the Secretary of Health and Human Services on domestic and global HIV/AIDS policy issues," according to the release. Kim is one of 23 new members of the council, which usually meets two to three times each year.
The new members met with the rest of the council for the first time on Tuesday in Washington, D.C., the press release said.
Kim, who was unavailable for comment on Tuesday, traveled to Washington to attend the council meeting, College Director of Media Relations Roland Adams told The Dartmouth. Kim had previously stated he would be named a member of the council during his remarks at the Martin Luther King, Jr. keynote lecture on Jan. 18.
Other appointees include A. Cornelius Baker, the national policy advisor for the National Black Gay Men's Advocacy Coalition; Humberto Cruz, director of the AIDS Institute at the New York State Department of Health; Patricia Garcia, associate professor of obstetrics and gynecology at Northwestern University; and Anita McBride, former assistant to President Bush and Chief of Staff to First Lady Laura Bush. Also joining the council is Santra Torres-Rivera, who "led the establishment in 1997 of the first nutritional program in Puerto Rico for persons with HIV/AIDS," according to the press release, and former Oscar nominee Rosie Perez, an actor, choreographer and director.
Students interviewed by The Dartmouth said they thought Kim's appointment came at a bad time for the College.
John Lee '11 said he is concerned that Kim may be holding too many positions at once, although he said he is happy Kim is serving the international health community.
In particular, the approaching Board of Trustees meeting and impending deadlines for completing budget reduction plans may lead students to worry that Kim's energy will be diverted from the College, according to Rick D'Amato '13.
Several students interviewed by The Dartmouth said that because Kim made a commitment to addressing the problems of the College, any deviation from this mission is inherently troubling. They added, however, that Kim may be able to bring a valuable national perspective from his work on the committee back to the College.
PACHA's past resolutions include support for the Early Treatment for HIV Act, which would have extended Medicaid coverage to individuals as soon as they are diagnosed with HIV, to allow them treatment in the early stages of infection instead of waiting until they became disabled by its effects, according to the AIDS Action Group web site. The bill was first introduced to the U.S. Senate in 2001 and has been reintroduced five times since, never making it out of committee, according to the Library of Congress web site.
PACHA also resolved in 2004 to support the AIDS Drug Assistance Programs, which provides treatment medications to low income patients nationally, according to a web site for The Health Central Network.
The council is involved with the development of approaches for HIV/AIDS education, plans to reduce the cost of medication, support for the availability of anonymous testing and the examination of alternative treatments to traditional drugs and their integration into treatment plans, according to PACHA's web site. PACHA also reports on the education procedures, treatments and availability of clinical drug trials conducted in prisons, the web site said.
In 2008, PACHA resolved to "fill key policy and leadership positions" for the President's Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief, according to the PACHA web site's log of past resolutions. PEPFAR provides funding for programs to fight HIV/AIDS globally, and is "the largest commitment by any nation to combat a single disease in history," according to an Oct. 22, 2008 press release by the U.S. State Department.
Tuesday's meeting took place on White House property from 2 p.m. to 5 p.m. and was open to the public, Christopher Bates, director of the Office for HIV/Aids policy and executive director of PACHA said in a letter announcing the meeting on the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services web site. Members of the public who had registered on PACHA's web site were allowed to comment at the meeting, Bates said in the letter.
