April 26, 2006: Norton at News Conference with Dental Professionals on Introduction of Key Bill

Norton at News Conference with Dental Professionals on
Introduction of Key Bill to Control HIV/AIDS Epidemic Here
April 26, 2006

Washington, DC—Congresswoman Eleanor Holmes Norton (D-DC) will release the details of an innovative bill she will introduce to address a critical shortage of dental care services for needy people, especially people with HIV and AIDS, in the District and across the country at a press conference at 10 AM, Thursday, April 27, 2006 at the Louis Stokes Health Sciences Library (501 W Street, NW) on the campus of Howard University. Dr. Leo Rouse, Dean of the Howard University School of Dentistry; Dr. Ryle Bell, Associate Dean of Clinical Affairs, Howard University School of Dentistry; and Dr. Patrick Hughes, Director of Dental Services at the Whitman-Walker Clinic, will speak at the news conference. Dental students who treat HIV/AIDS patients here will be on hand.

Norton’s bill is another effort by the Congresswoman to address the unusually serious and recalcitrant HIV/AIDS epidemic in the District. She said that Howard Dental School professors say that access to dental care is essential to prevent the development of HIV/AIDS in individuals and the spread to others because one of the first indicators of infection is oral health problems. Not only do early indicators of oral health problems signal symptoms of HIV/AIDS, but they also serve as benchmarks for disease progression. Therefore, having access to dental care minimizes long term oral health complications for patients and also provides the necessary linkages to getting good overall medical care to combat the disease. Norton’s bill would establish a new federally-funded program to help fill this void. “Dental care is especially critical in the District,” Norton said, “because of the reluctance of residents, particularly in D.C. neighborhoods with high-infection rates, to be tested for HIV/AIDS itself.”

Dental professionals from the Whitman-Walker Clinic and from Howard will further explain issues that hinder access to dental care at the news conference and will discuss why congressional intervention in the form of Norton’s bill will help to address this critical need.