AIDS Issues Update Blog
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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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29 Activists Arrested Protesting Syringe Exchange Ban
View more photos from today’s action.
See video of today’s actions and protest.
29 AIDS and harm reduction activists were arrested this morning after holding in sit-in protests in four US Representatives offices, including Speaker John Boehner (R-OH), Rep. Denny Rehberg (R-MT), and Hal Rogers (R-KY) for their role in re-instating the ban on federal funding for syringe exchange programs last December. Activists entered the offices of Boehner, Rehberg, Rogers, and Cantor chanting and carrying signs that read “Syringe Exchange: A Fix for AIDS” before they were arrested. This demonstration was just one of dozens that took place around the country today as a way to pressure congress to remove the ban on federal funding for syringe exchange once and for all. …
Posted on March 21, 2012 at 2:04 pm
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Action Alert: Tell NYS Leader to Restore $75 Million in Supportive Housing
Both the New York State Assembly and Senate are trying to further reduce the amount of supportive housing money that Governor Cuomo has placed in his budget. Both branches of government are moving quickly to pass an on-time budget (by April 1st) and we must act quickly to try to stop these bad budget proposals!!!!!
In January, Governor Cuomo released his Executive Budget for New York State for Fiscal Year 2012 – 2013. In this budget he included a $75 million dollars “placeholder” for supportive housing proposals from the Affordable Housing Workgroup of the Medicaid Redesign Team (MRT).
What YOU Can Do!
Please make TWO calls:
1. Senate Majority Leader Dean Skelos at 518-455-3171 or at 516-766-8393
2. Assembly Speaker Sheldon …Posted on March 19, 2012 at 6:28 pm
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ADAP Watch: AIDS Drug Wait List Hits 3,840
As of March 15, the wait list to receive lifesaving AIDS medication through the nation’s AIDS Drug Assistance Programs had hit 3,840 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 …
Posted on March 19, 2012 at 10:48 am
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National Day Of Action Planned For Access To Clean Syringes
Contact: Kenyon Farrow, k.farrow@housingworks.org, 347.949.1974
Washington, DC—Responding to rampant Congressional games that place politics over effective public health measures, Housing Works and activists from all over the country have organized events targeting Congressional leaders for re-instating the policy that bans health organizations from using federal dollars for syringe exchange programs.
“Our government should be embarrassed as this year’s host of the International AIDS Conference to have sneaked this into an unrelated bill under the cloak of night last December” said Charles King, CEO of Housing Works, Inc. “The US cannot be any shining example to the rest of the world on how to end the AIDS epidemic when we’re still fighting foolish policies that reject what we know works.”
The …
Posted on March 15, 2012 at 6:04 pm
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