SACRAMENTO, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--AIDS Healthcare Foundation (AHF) today praised California Governor Jerry Brown for signing Assembly Bill 277 (Sen. Richard Pan, MD, D-Sacramento, and Sen. Ben Allen, D-Santa Monica), legislation that will eliminate nearly all ‘personal belief’ exemptions from routine childhood vaccines in California sought by parents for their children. Brown signed the bill Monday in Sacramento.
AHF also criticized ‘Dumb & Dumber’ star Jim Carrey for calling Brown a ‘fascist’ for signing the bill. In November 2014—before a measles outbreak in California sickened over 130 individuals, primarily children—AHF launched its ‘AirheadCelebs’ campaign to highlight the importance of childhood vaccinations as well as draw a negative light on the outsized influence certain celebrities with no medical, scientific or public health backgrounds are having on the issue.
“We thank Governor Brown for quickly signing SB277 into law and for recognizing this bill as an important means of protecting the public health of Californians, particularly young schoolchildren,” said Michael Weinstein, President of AIDS Healthcare Foundation. “We also want to sharply rebuke ‘Dumb & Dumber’ star Jim Carrey for calling Governor Brown a fascist for signing the bill. Carrey will soon have a place of prominence on our ‘AirheadCelebs’ hall of shame website.”
In November 2014, AHF launched http://www.AirheadCelebs.com, an advocacy campaign including a website and billboards targeting the undue influence of Hollywood celebrities who espouse anti-childhood vaccination sentiments. As part of the campaign, AHF’s initial AirheadCelebs.com billboard, “Protect Your Child—Vaccinate,” went up in Los Angeles with initial key billboard postings in the Hollywood area. The campaign is an extension of AHF’s focus on a wider spectrum of public health issues beyond HIV/AIDS, including testing for other sexually transmitted diseases (STDs) and providing meningitis and other vaccines at its AHF Wellness Centers.
About AHF
AIDS Healthcare Foundation (AHF) is the largest non-profit HIV/AIDS healthcare provider in the USA. AHF currently provides medical care and/or services to more than 437,000 individuals in 36 countries worldwide in the US, Africa, Latin America/Caribbean, Eastern Europe, and Asia. Additional information is available at www.aidshealth.org, find us on Facebook: www.facebook.com/aidshealth and follow us on Twitter & Instagram: @AIDSHealthcare
