A new battle plan. (last word).

As I watched the news coverage of the 14th International AIDS Conference in Barcelona, I was reminded of the psychological battle fatigue that gripped America's collective consciousness during the Vietnam war. I thought of when Sen. George Aiken of Vermont suggested that we simply "declare victory and come home" and how it seems as if people today are feeling the same way about America's domestic war on HIV/AIDS. As in the Vietnam conflict, we are tired of advocating, have seen too many casualties, and know we are losing. It appears we have all concluded that this is simply a war we no longer want to fight.

Pondering this column, I carefully monitored the news coverage of HIV/AIDS issues in recent weeks. During the conference in Barcelona, most major papers provided daily updates. Yet immediately following, coverage returned to normal--i.e., nothing!

I recently asked an AIDS policy professional if there were any AIDS organizations in America today not facing huge financial challenges. He thought there might be one or two. Organization after organization is terminating its relationship with Pallotta Team-Works's AIDS Rides, citing reduced proceeds, high overhead, and low participation. Many local chapters of the Names Project, which administers the AIDS memorial quilt, have disbanded, and the quilt itself was recently moved into a storage facility.

Yet today, over 900,000 Americans are living with HIV/AIDS. While AIDS deaths are down, new infections continue unabated at 40,000-plus per year, with disturbing indications that the rate is rising among some groups. Gay men, the group most affected in the past, now represent 42% of new infections--the largest single category.

In the face of these sobering figures, the Administration refuses to confront the issue of prevention. Abstinence is a wonderful concept for those allowed to marry, but it has no value for our nation's gay community.

Instead, policy makers are consumed with the international fight against AIDS, as if the home effort were an "'80s phenomenon." They find comfort in focusing on the global epidemic. It is bigger. It is "over there." And it is primarily heterosexual. Witness President Bush's recent focus on reducing mother-to-child transmission of HIV. While addressing this is laudable and necessary, we risk a return to focusing solely on mothers and babies and ignoring the needs of gay and bisexual men.

In Barcelona we learned that 77% of American gay and bisexual men living with HIV are not aware of their status. Yet only 8% of federal HIV spending is allocated to prevention. Federal prevention programs resist learning which words and messages will really work because they might offend others. This mind-set will result in an estimated 21.5 million young people in the world living with HIV by the end of this decade!

I am as guilty of battle fatigue as anyone else. I doubt my donations have gone down--but they have probably not kept up with inflation. Having worked with Mary Fisher's organization since leaving Congress, I have tired of begging corporations for support they won't give. Having lost many close friends, I have chosen not to focus on their absence.

A generation of AIDS activists has grown tired, and little has been done to engage a new generation in the struggle. Let's start by saving a generation with prevention messages that work. The government must embark on serious studies to learn what messages will work with at-risk groups--and then have the courage to implement them. I ask our brothers and sisters in the communities of color to recognize that homosexuality is not "just a white guys' thing." I ask those of us who are white to confront our own racism so that men of color feel welcome. The gay community as a whole must reengage itself in the fight against HIV/AIDS. This nation and our political leaders need to see that the devastation of AIDS must be fought not only abroad but here at home.