Using Washington, D.C.'s AIDS epidemic as the lens through which it highlights the Centers for Disease Control's failure at HIV prevention in the United States, the AIDS Healthcare Foundation will unveil a provocative print ad, "AIDS Is D.C.'s Katrina," that will appear on 60 bus shelters on street corners throughout Washington beginning in early June.

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The ad contrasts an iconic photo of an indifferent former president George W. Bush looking out the window of Air Force One at the devastation and aftermath of Hurricane Katrina in New Orleans with a close-up photo of a seemingly homeless person's pair of hands holding tightly onto a piece of a battered corrugated cardboard with the phrase "AIDS Is D.C.'s Katrina" scrawled in red across it.

The ad, which AHF produced after the recent revelation that the HIV prevalence rate in Washington surged past 3% -- higher than the rate in Lagos, Nigeria -- also includes the website www.changeAIDSobama.org, and is intended to prod President Obama to act forcefully on AIDS. AHF is one of many AIDS groups nationwide that have been critical of the president's silence on AIDS during his first four months in office.

"Katrina quickly came to symbolize the Bush administration's neglect and indifference of some of America's most vulnerable citizens. Today, 56,000 new HIV infections each year in the United States, a 40% increase from last year, symbolizing neglect and indifference -- and the failure of our U.S. HIV prevention efforts," said Michael Weinstein, AHF’s president. "The fact that Washington, D.C.'s HIV prevalence rate is now higher than some hard-hit African countries is an indictment of how the CDC has failed to lead in HIV prevention efforts. When this news about Washington's HIV rate first broke in March, President Obama remained silent. Despite his silence on AIDS to date, we hope this ad will prod President Obama to act forcefully on AIDS, and we remain hopeful he will be the change that we can believe in -- and urgently need -- on AIDS."

Many AIDS and public-health officials believe that the 3% HIV prevalence rate recently reported in Washington is actually a low estimate; the true figure, they believe, may be closer to 5% of the district's population. Some fault ineffective leadership in Washington and the CDC for the burgeoning domestic AIDS epidemic, which is now disproportionately affecting minorities, people in rural areas, and people throughout the South.

To address the growing epidemic, the CDC issued revised guidelines for HIV testing in September of 2006. In its revised guidelines, the CDC recommended the testing of all people ages 13–64 in routine health care settings such as emergency units and community clinics. Unfortunately, nearly three years later, these testing guidelines have not been widely implemented -- at the same time, our rate of new HIV infections has increased 40%, from 40,000 new infections annually to 56,000.

"President Obama received plaudits from AHF and many others for appointing Dr. Thomas Frieden, the former public-health commissioner for New York City as his new head of the CDC," added Weinstein. "Demanding nationwide compliance with the CDC's own prudent, yet largely ignored HIV testing guidelines would be a great place for Dr. Frieden and the Obama administration to start in addressing the domestic AIDS epidemic."

AHF also has produced a 30-second companion television spot using the same Katrina imagery. The spot urges President Obama to act forcefully on the AIDS epidemic both domestically and abroad. The ad, which consists of still photos -- including the images from the bus shelter ad -- will initially be available on YouTube and other social marketing websites before running on television.