On Wednesday, San Francisco Mayor Ed Lee announced the merger of two municipal HIV councils in an effort to streamline his push to eliminate the virus from the city, according to the San Francisco Examiner.
The merger of the HIV Prevention Planning Council and the HIV Ryan White Care Council will create a new 44-member council, including health department staff, community healthcare providers and members of other city departments — close half of the council members are positive for HIV.
Near the peak of the U.S. AIDS epidemic, San Francisco experienced 2,332 new cases of HIV in 1992 alone. In recent years, that measure has dropped to record lows. In 2014, there were 309 new cases of infection — in 2015, the steady decline continued with 255 new infections.
According to the Examiner, at a news conference on Wednesday, surrounded by members of the newly formed council, Mr. Lee said, "We're getting closer to zero every day and it's because of the people right here in this room. San Francisco's aim is to become the first city to get to zero. That means zero new HIV infections, zero deaths from HIV, zero stigma and discrimination."
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