AIDS Issues Update Blog
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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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Newly Designed Female Condom Reduces HIV Rates in DC
DC’s Doin’ It: And they’re reducing HIV infections in the process!
Apparently the city’s free female condom distribution plan, called DC’s Doin’ It, prevented 23 HIV infections and saved money, according to a study conducted by Johns Hopkins University. Though 23 infections may not seem like a lot, the city potentially saved $8million in costs for HIV treatment. In addition, women’s health advocates have often complained that the female condom is not the best method of prevention for women, due to its high cost and less than discreet design, and requires the insertive partner to agree to its use. But the new design has meant they’re cheaper to purchase and thinner material has made them much more attractive.
“This is …
Posted on March 28, 2012 at 12:33 pm
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Charles King Profiled by NY Mag For ACT-UP Anniversary
Marking the 25th Anniversary of the founding of AIDS Coalition To Unleash Power (ACT-UP), New York Magazine published a series of profiles of some of the most significant leaders of ACT-UP, including Housing Works CEO and Co-Founder, Charles King. NY Mag writes:
King can’t remember where he was first arrested, but his last arrest was just last week, inside the Capitol Hill office of Representative Hal Rogers of Kentucky, co-author of the current federal ban on clean-needle exchange in the war against AIDS transmission. For King, who is a lawyer and Baptist minister, ACT UP changed his life unexpectedly when he found romance in a committee meeting: For fifteen years, he and Keith Cylar, with whom he …
Posted on March 27, 2012 at 11:01 am
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ADAP Watch: AIDS Drug Wait List Hits 3,557
As of March 22, the wait list to receive lifesaving AIDS medication through the nation’s AIDS Drug Assistance Programs had hit 3,557 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 …
Posted on March 27, 2012 at 10:30 am
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Not Even Half of State Medicaid Programs Cover Routine HIV Testing
The Kaiser Family Foundation just released the findings of a survey showing that only 23 states offer routine HIV testing as part of their Medicaid program. The remaining 24 states only offer testing if it “medically necessary.” NJ, HI, WI and Washington, DC did not bother responding to the survey. Sixty percent of people with HIV live in states with no Medicaid coverage for routine HIV testing, according to the study. Yet surprisingly, Mississippi does offer routine HIV tests for people on Medicaid, but if you’re in the Magnolia State, good luck getting Medicaid or HIV treatment at all.
A study released last year showed that being poor was a bigger predictor of HIV infection …
Posted on March 22, 2012 at 8:50 pm
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