As has been widely reported, CDC has put out a revised estimate of HIV incidence in the United States. This long-awaited data shows an annual rate of approximately 56,300 new cases a year -- 40% higher than previous estimates -- and also confirms a persistent epidemic in Black Americans, and rising rates in gay men and other men who have sex with men.

The revision also includes a back-calculation revealing that, between 1991-2006, infection rates were approximately 25 - 50% higher than the long-held 40,000 annual estimate.

People living with HIV and other HIV prevention justice activists immediately demanded a response from Senators John McCain and Barack Obama, the presumptive nominees for our next President. Both men expressed support for global AIDS funding, which was signed into law by the President this week. But when it comes to the epidemic here at home, they haven't had much to say on the post-primary campaign trail.

McCain has not released an HIV/AIDS platform, and has referred to conservative Senator Tom Coburn (R, OK), as "the guy I really respect" on HIV/AIDS. Obama has previously released a platform on HIV/AIDS that includes support for a national AIDS strategy and other domestic initiatives, but cites Coburn as an example of his cross-aisle collaborators.

On Sunday, the candidates both released statements on the higher incidence estimate.

Obama led with the call for a national AIDS strategy, and went on to talk about "expanding access to testing and comprehensive education programs." Notably, he also cites homophobia as a root cause of stigma.

He also stated that "Combating HIV/AIDS also demands closing the caps in opportunity that exist in our society, causing one reader of a blog post on the statements to ask "hey Sen Obama, are the gaps you're referring to the institutional inequalities like racism, poverty, lack of housing, a healthcare system that only serves the wealthy, and mass incarceration that continue to fuel the epidemic? Hope so!"

McCain's statement says he would "work closely with non-profit, government and private sector stakeholders to continue the fight against HIV/AIDS," but falls short of committing to a national AIDS strategy. He then provides a list of efforts on which to focus, which leads with "reducing drug costs through greater market competition," and adds more general efforts such as "promoting prevention efforts, encouraging testing, targeting communities with high infection rates, strengthening research and reducing disparities through effective public outreach."

A more accurate incidence estimate could serve as a wake-up call. But it's equally likely that this awful news could just fade away from view in a nation that seems to have a bottomless capacity for bias and neglect -- especially when it comes to queer people and people of color.

As with so many issues in HIV/AIDS, we do not have to hunt for a conspiracy to explain how we have found ourselves in this troubling state of affairs. The damning evidence is right out in the open.

Our country has:

• no national AIDS strategy
• funding for HIV prevention that was flat, and then actually declined
• persistent, Jesse Helms-era restrictions on proven means of effective prevention; and
• the pernicious intersection of HIV and major social injustices, such as mass imprisonment of the racial and ethnic groups disproportionately impacted by the epidemic as well as the sanction of bias against sexual and gender minorities.

On the day this article is published, it's likely that another American will become HIV positive about every ten minutes -- and over a third of them will be under 30 years old. Will we point fingers at them and cast blame, further fueling stigma?

Or will we -- and our leaders, including our next president -- finally take a long, unflinching look at a country that tolerates bullying and unrelenting violence against LGBT youth, funds ideologically motivated programs in our schools, defunds and suppresses research on sexuality and public health, swells our jails and prisons by locking up unprecedented numbers of people from the racial and ethnic communities hardest-hit by HIV, and has never provided necessary HIV prevention education and tools to any significant percentage of the population?