AIDS Issues Update Blog
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ADAP Watch: AIDS Drug Wait List Hits 3,240
As of April 5th, the wait list to receive lifesaving AIDS medication through the nation’s AIDS Drug Assistance Programs had hit 3,240 people across 10 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 in our …
Posted on April 9, 2012 at 10:57 am
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East New York Community Health Center Celebrates Expansion with Ribbon Cutting
Housing Works celebrated the newly renovated East New York Community Health Center with a hot-pink ribbon cutting and tour of the new facility.
About one-hundred Housing Works clients, staff, and community allies gathered outside the health center on Pitkin Avenue in East New York to celebrate the center’s re-opening, which will now serve all people regardless of HIV status, a first for Housing Works’ health service programs. The $500,000 renovation will more than double clients to reach 2,600 new users (about 10,552 medical visits annually), 80% who will be homeless, .
“In order to accomplish our mission of ending the dual crises of HIV and homelessness, we need to be able to offer health care to people before they become HIV-positive,” …
Posted on April 4, 2012 at 2:30 pm
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NYC Data Shows Drop in 2010 HIV Rates But Disparities Remain
This week, NYC released a series of slide sets detailing the HIV infections in 2010. While the overall rates of HIV have dropped in the city, many of the same disparities still persist. Here’s 10 things to remember about AIDS in New York:
- 1 – NYC has much higher numbers of new HIV diagnoses than other cities, but the rate of people with HIV is much lower than cities like Washington, DC, Miami, Atlanta, and Baltimore.
- 2 – About 90% of transgender women (male-to-female) and transgender men (female-to-male) diagnosed with HIV were Black or Hispanic.
- 3 – 20% of people with HIV had progressed to AIDS at the time …
Posted on April 4, 2012 at 11:14 am
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White House Announces Working Group On Women, HIV and Violence Issues
One month after the Presidential Advisory Council on HIV/AIDS (PACHA) featured women activists calling for more focus on women and girls in the National AIDS Strategy, the Obama Administration has announced working group to begin exploring ways to better respond to the needs of women in the HIV epidemic.
“The Working Group shall coordinate agency efforts to address issues involving the intersection of HIV/AIDS, violence against women and girls, and gender related health disparities,” said President Obama, in a memo posted on the White House website.
Whether this “coordination” will lead to increased funding for HIV treatment, services and care delivery for women remains to be seen. But something has to shift. Last month, a study released …
Posted on April 3, 2012 at 5:35 pm
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ADAP Watch: AIDS Drug Wait List Hits 3,666
As of March 29, the wait list to receive lifesaving AIDS medication through the nation’s AIDS Drug Assistance Programs had hit 3,666 people across 11 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 in our Friday morning newsletter.
Kenyon Farrow--> on April 3, 2012 at 10:24 am
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AIDS Activists Rally Against Social Service Cuts At City Hall
Responding to the 1000 paper-cut slices made to social services in Bloomberg’s last several budget cycles, Housing Works and several other AIDS and housing activists rallied at City Hall this morning to send a message to the Bloomberg administration: No More cuts to social services.
“We stand here yet again today to rally against those cuts that will directly and negatively impact the already strained programs that many New Yorkers have come to rely on,” said Council Member Annabel Palma, who also chairs the General Welfare Committee. “I hope that this is the year that the Administration will work with the Council to find long-term solutions that will allow our City to continue to provide a robust social safety net.”
The rally …
Posted on March 29, 2012 at 3:40 pm
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VIDEO: Why The New East NY Community Health Center Matters
The “lifesaving services” at Housing Works just got better. As we prepare for our official ribbon-cutting for the newly expanded East New York Community Health Center on April 4th, we picked up a camera, and took the A train to East New York and sat down with Brenda Cyrus and Leonard Austin at the clinic. Cyrus and Austin know Housing Works’ high-quality health care first hand—both are clients turned Board members of the East New York Community Health Center.
Watch the video, as they discuss the importance of the new health center for residents of East New York.
East New York Community Health Center from Housing Works on Vimeo.
Follow the …
Posted on March 29, 2012 at 2:54 pm
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Victory! Housing Works Helps Save $60 Mil in NYS Supportive Housing
Last week, we asked everyone to bombard the New York State legislative leaders with phone calls denouncing their proposed cut of the $75 million dollars that the Governor had set aside to fund supportive housing programs and projects for people with chronic conditions.
Well, guess what? IT WORKED!!! On Wednesday, the New York State Senate passed this year’s budget, which restored $60 million for the Supportive Housing Fund. The fund was the proposed by the Medicaid Redesign Teams’ Affordable Housing Workgroup to provide housing and services to homeless persons living with chronic conditions here in New York State.
“Housing Works clients, advocates and staff rose to the occasion to save supportive housing,” said terri smith-caronia, Vice President for New York Advocacy and Public …
Posted on March 28, 2012 at 5:54 pm
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