amfAR Voices Support for Obama’s Pick for Top Job at CDC
NEW YORK, May 15, 2009 – Following President Obama’s announcement that New York City Health Commissioner Thomas Frieden will be the new director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), amfAR, The Foundation for AIDS Research, today voiced its support for Dr. Frieden as a proven leader in the fight against HIV/AIDS.
“Tom Frieden has been an ardent and effective campaigner for HIV prevention programs that have helped stabilize and reduce the HIV infection rate in New York City,” said amfAR CEO Kevin Robert Frost. “At a time when we’re coping with a national HIV incidence that was recently determined by the CDC to be 40% higher than previously thought, the CDC would be well served by Tom Frieden and the effective leadership he has demonstrated in the fight against HIV/AIDS in New York City.”
To combat the AIDS epidemic, Dr. Frieden has been a vocal proponent of safer sex, syringe exchange programs, and routine HIV testing. He recently partnered with amfAR chairman Kenneth Cole to launch a successful condom distribution program throughout greater New York City, and under Dr. Frieden’s leadership the New York City Health Department clinics increased the number of HIV tests administered from 30,000 in 2002 to 70,000 in 2008.