Patching Up PACHA
Sebelius and Obama kiss old PACHA charter goodbye
On Tuesday the Presidential Advisory Council on HIV/AIDS (PACHA) revised its charter and terminated the memberships of all existing members, paving the way for a more diverse organization with the potential to influence the White House.
A spokesperson from HHS wouldn’t comment on the board shakeup but said, “With the recent expiration of the PACHA charter and the President’s National Strategy on HIV/AIDS being rolled out soon, it seemed like a natural time to reconstitute the President’s Advisory Council.”
Despite its name, during the Bush Administration, PACHA only advised Health and Human Services (HHS), not the White House. During the Clinton administration, PACHA had more influence than it did in the Bush years. It met regularly not only with HHS Secretary Donna Shalala but President Clinton himself. While under the new charter PACHA will still only advise the HHS Secretary, PACHA’s executive director will be appointed by the HHS Secretary in consultation with the White House’s Director of National AIDS Policy.
That means HHS Secretary Kathleen Sebelius will work with ONAP head Jeffrey Crowley to select PACHA’s executive director.
“This will hopefully increase the influence of PACHA,” said Carl Schmid, a former PACHA member appointed by George W. Bush who received his termination notice this week in a letter from Sebelius. “I’d always have to ask the PACHA staff if they sent our resolutions to the White House. They said they did, but who knows?”
Some other changes in the new charter include expanding the membership from 21 to 25 people; increasing meetings from two to three times a year (budget permitting); and calling on PACHA to advise on “matters related to address HIV-related health disparities” and “provide global leadership in responding to the HIV pandemic and expand access to treatment, care, and prevention for people infected with and affected by HIV/AIDS around the world.”
PACHA has potential to be important as the administration starts creating a National AIDS Strategy. Crowley has stated on numerous occasions that federal law prohibits him from convening regularly scheduled advisory panels at whim, but PACHA’s advice is mandated by federal law.
Some departing members were disappointed.
“It was a very positive and wonderful organization. The principle problem was during the last year there was no HHS Secretary,” said Robert Kauffman, an attorney who was a PACHA member. “I’m just interested to see what they do next.”
Diversifying membership
Many AIDS advocates hope that the new charter will be an opportunity to diversify PACHA membership. The most recent PACHA board was appointed by President George W. Bush and composed of mostly researchers. There were only two or three people with AIDS among its 21 members and two or three gay people. There was also no representation from state government. Although Bush kept Clinton’s appointees until their terms expired, it appears the Obama administration wanted a fresh start.
“I encourage Secretary Sebelius to make sure that PACHA’s membership reflects the diversity of those affected by the AIDS epidemic,” said Housing Works Vice President of National Advocacy and Organizing Christine Campbell.
Posted on August 6, 2009 at 12:48 pm
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