AIDS Issues Update Blog
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New Study Details Southern US HIV Epidemic
Just days before the South Carolina Republican Primary (and weeks after Republican Presidential candidates threw people with HIV under the bus), the Southern HIV/AIDS Strategy Initiative released a report on the AIDS epidemic in the Southern States.
- 8 out of 10 states with the highest rates of new HIV infections are in the targeted Southern states.
- 35% of new HIV infections were in the targeted states, which contain only 22% of the US population.
- Six of the 10 states with the highest HIV prevalence rates are targeted Southern states.
- The Southern states account for 8 of the 10 states with the highest HIV death rates (deaths per 100,000 population). All nine targeted Southern states …
Posted on January 18, 2012 at 11:16 am
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Maryland Senator Seeks to Make HIV Transmission a Felony
The longest serving Maryland State Senator Norman Stone Jr. has introduced a bill that would make HIV transmission a felony charge in the state, according to Think Progress.
I would like to remind Senator Stone of Shanika Pretlow. Pretlow was a 26 year old Baltimore resident who was murdered by a man she’d had unprotected sex with in 2005. The man said he killed Pretlow because he contracted HIV from her. An autopsy showed she was HIV negative at the time she was murdered.
Even if she was HIV-positive, she did not deserve murder, and similarly, imprisonment for HIV transmission is not a public health solution. Further stigma and discrimination will only lead to more violence, and …
Posted on January 17, 2012 at 5:45 pm
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ADAP Watch: AIDS Drug Wait List Hits 4,717
As of January 12, the wait list to receive lifesaving AIDS medication through the nation’s AIDS Drug Assistance Programs had hit 4,717 people across 12 states.
The number of people waiting to receive medication through state-run AIDS drug programs has increased more than 5,000 percent since August 2009, according to the National Alliance of State and Territorial AIDS Directors. The federal government has reacted with little urgency, however, allotting just $25 million in additional dollars to the program for FY 2012.
To help readers keep tabs on the growing ADAP crisis, we are now posting the ADAP Watch—the document that tracks increasing cuts to the program—each week, and including it …
Posted on January 17, 2012 at 3:06 pm
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NYS Free Health-Related Legal Services Bill Signed, Lacks Funding
Late last year Governor Cuomo signed a bill into law that helps NYS health care providers to combine free health related legal services in their facilities to people in need "to resolve legal matters or needs that have an impact on patient health or are created or aggravated by a patient's health."
"Housing Works is very proud to have supported this bill from the beginning, but we hope the legislature provides funding to make this a reality," says Carmelita Cruz, Carmelita Cruz, Director of NYS Advocacy & Organizing for Housing Works.
According to Monica Miller, Senior Legislative Associate for the bill's sponsor Assemblyman Dick Gottfried, the bill was initially written with a funding plan attached. But given …
Posted on January 12, 2012 at 4:30 pm
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INTERVIEW: HRSA Discusses Planned ADAP Study
Most AIDS activists have been watching in shock as the ADAP waiting list rolls yo-yo up and down, as more and more people with HIV are finding themselves with intermittent treatment, limited treatment options, or no treatment at all. This week I found out that Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) was planning a study of ADAP programs, and decided to contact HRSA via email about the study being planned. Here’s what a HRSA spokesperson had to say:
HW: Why is HRSA embarking on this study of ADAP usage?
HRSA: The primary purpose of this evaluation project is not to study ADAP usage but, rather, to identify and examine factors contributing to …
Posted on January 12, 2012 at 4:28 pm
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Report: Most Doctors Think Patients’ Health Tied to Social Needs
Most doctors agree with us: Housing works.
The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation just released the findings of a survey of 1000 primary care physicians and pediatricians. They found that 4 out of 5 doctors believe that a patients’ social needs are just as important to addressing their medical conditions as whatever care they provide. Ninety percent of doctors who work in low-income neighborhoods overwhelmingly believed this to be true.
The survey also found that “85 percent believe that unmet social needs — things like access to nutritious food, reliable transportation and adequate housing — are leading directly to worse health for all Americans. Furthermore, 4 in 5 physicians do not feel confident in their capacity to meet their patients’ social needs, and they …
Posted on January 10, 2012 at 1:36 pm
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ADAP Watch: AIDS Drug Wait List Hits 4,606
As of January 6, 2012 the wait list to receive lifesaving AIDS medication through the nation’s AIDS Drug Assistance Programs had hit 4,606 people across 12 states.
The number of people waiting to receive medication through state-run AIDS drug programs has increased more than 5,000 percent since “August 2009” according to the National Alliance of State and Territorial AIDS Directors. The federal government has reacted with little urgency, however, allotting just $25 million in additional dollars to the program for FY 2012.
To help readers keep tabs on the growing ADAP crisis, we are now posting the Read More
Posted on January 10, 2012 at 11:19 am
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People’s State of the State Demands Economic Justice for New Yorkers
Just one day ahead of Governor Cuomo’s “State of the State” Address, Housing Works joined hundreds of activists at a rally outside the Albany State capitol, to present the People’s State of the State rally.
“I hope that it serves as a reminder to Governor Cuomo that there are people living in poverty in NYS and that he cannot cut essential, life-saving services, especially for people living with HIV and AIDS,” says Carmelita Cruz, Director of NYS Advocacy & Organizing for Housing Works. “We will see what the Governor deems as important when his 2012-2013 budget is released later this month.”
This year marks the 22nd anniversary of the People’s State of the State, which announces the economic justice issues …
Posted on January 5, 2012 at 5:36 pm
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