Schmid is an influential advocate for HIV/AIDS research both in D.C. and across the country. As the deputy executive director of The AIDS Institute, he was involved in the International AIDS Conference held in the District last week.
Do you think this conference helped shed light on the AIDS problem?
It’s important to raise people’s awareness about HIV. People don’t talk about it, think about it like they should. Because I guess people aren’t dying like they used to. And the truth is, people do die of AIDS every year, here in the District, around the country and around the world. People aren’t getting tested in D.C. and around the country. They don’t know they have HIV so they could be spreading the disease to other people without knowing it.
What do you think about having the conference here in Washington, where AIDS is considered an epidemic?
It’s a crisis in D.C., … so I think it’s important to have the conference here. I think it’s good to raise awareness in the population to make them aware of HIV. Everyone has known the conference was coming here for the last couple years and it has put pressure, not only on our federal government, but our local government as well, to respond to the crisis.
Has the city made progress?
The number of new infections are down, but still too high, specifically in certain populations. But we are making progress in D.C., it looks like.
What do you think has contributed to this?
I think it’s education and through testing. D.C. has a concerted testing effort and testing really helps. You have to know who has the virus to treat it. … It’s better for treatment of the disease to find out you’re HIV-positive early. And, obviously, it’s better for people to know they’re HIV-positive so they take precautions not to transmit the virus.
— Jacob Demmitt
