Minority Healthcare Communications Inc. (MHCC) is a non-profit health education organization, focused entirely on the creation and promotion of specialized healthcare education conferences, seminars, and workshops on HIV/AIDS and Cancer in the African-American and Latino Communities. This organizations which is trying to educate our doctors, nurses, etc. has been experiencing tough times in trying to access funds to support this crucial event. This is the only conference which educates providers not only on HIV/AIDS but also on transgender health. As of today, Wednesday December 23^rd 2009, none of our primary grantors has fulfilled a single grant request, including the following: GlaxoSmithKline (no grant access), Bristol-Myers Squibb Company, Tibotec Therapeutics, Pfizer (no grant access), Office of AIDS Research, Boerhinger-Ingelheim. Combined, these funds would have made up almost 100% of our total needs. We are forced to make further adjustments to the conference planning, including the strong possibility that the event may need to be postponed this coming year. This is ironic we have been turned down by those companies who profit from our disease. I speak as an HIV+ individual which is disgusted in the course that these pharmaceuticals are taking in refusing funding. This cannot continue we still have doctors, nurses, and other professionals who need to be educated. The majority of the physicians treating HIV patients are residents, straight out of school how can we not need this event? We have also tried CDC and DHHS but for some strange reason they do not fund these type of conferences. Instead they fund prevention conferences which to this day have not proven success we still have large number of people becoming infected not only with HIV but tragically they are diagnosed late with AIDS. This cannot continue HIV/AIDS has been hidden in this country long enough. All we talk about is how much money was sent to Africa, South America, etc not that this is not important but how can we support people in other countries and refuse organizations in the US. We pretend the epidemic is under control but alas that is not so as I mentioned numbers increase and funding becomes difficult to obtain. Plus these clients in the US are the reason these pharmaceuticals can send money to Africa they have been prospering from our treatments using their medications for decades! People in this country need to be made aware of the reality of the epidemic and maybe we then can see more support.