One of the highlights of my DC trip was attending a Board meeting for the MTV Staying Alive Foundation. This week, Executive Director of SAF, Georgia Arnold, wrote a thoughtful piece for the Huffington Post about how we need to frame the fight against HIV moving forward.

Georgia writes:

“The truth is, there is no simple answer to this problem. And there is no single solution that will ultimately eradicate this virus from our lives. But if we truly want, and we truly believe, that the next generation of young people should be -- and could be -- the first AIDS-free generation in our lifetime, then we must do much more than this conference is promising. And I believe that the only way that will ever happen, is when the world remembers to care, remembers that the problem of AIDS they responded to when it first became known, is still very much here.”

To read the whole article, go here.

One of the best things happening this week in DC is the continued focus on HIV criminalization in the United States. Poz Magazine caught up with Scott A. Schoettes, the HIV project director for Lambda Legal, to find out more about the ever-increasing, under-the-radar problem. Mark King of The Body was also on hand all week, providing video blogs on his experiences and thoughts regarding the International AIDS Conference. Check them out below!

Be sure to check out all the latest updates from the conference at POZ.com. A big tip of the hat to everyone who weighed in, hugged it out and recharged at this year’s conference. Let’s keep the momentum heading forward, in honor of those we have lost, to guide the newly diagnosed on their new paths and to prevent unnecessary new infections.

Positively Yours,
Shawn