Presidential Advisory Committee voting on a Resolution concerning ADAP

Dr. Deborah Parham

Dr. Parham Hopson is responsible for managing the Ryan White HIV/AIDS Treatment Modernization Act of 2006 (Ryan White HIV/AIDS Program).

PACHA (Presidential Advisory Committee on HIV/AIDS) voted to pass a resolution today that "advised" President Obama to

1. Provide adequate emergency federal ADAP funding in FY2010 ($126,000,000) to eliminate wait lists, reverse cost containment measures, and meet anticipated increased demand for live-saving treatment in FY 2010.

    2.  Provide adequate federal Ryan White Program funding in FY2011 and beyond to meet
         growing demand for Ryan White Program provided care, treatment and essential support  
         services.

     3.  Provide states with the ability to immediately expand access to Medicaid for people living
          with HIV and AIDS through the enactment of the Early Treatment for HIV Act.

For a copy of the rest of the Resolution, go here: http://www.aids.gov/federal-resources/policies/pacha/meetings/june-2010-resolution.pdf

For a copy of the discussion that happened and subsequent comments from those listening in, go here: http://www.preventionjustice.org/

National HIV Testing Day!!! June 27th

AIDS Network is continuing our excellence in HIV Prevention efforts by Acknowledging National HIV Testing Day with a Week of Activities.  Here is a listing of places we will be doing FREE HIV Testing!

June 22
1 - 4 p.m.

Joining Forces for Families
818 W Badger Road

June 24

8 - 11 a.m.

Madison Health Services
3113 E Washington Avenue

and

1 - 4 p.m.

Allied Drive Wellness Center
2225 Allied Drive

June 25

Noon - 4 p.m.

Harambee Center
2202 S Park Street

July 1st
10:30pm - 1:30am

Plan B
924 Williamson St.


And like always, we will be offering Free HIV testing here at AIDS Network every Weekday.  Check the bar to the right for times. 

And here are some statistics from the National Institute of Heath during a presentation they did about National HIV Testing Day.

1 our of 5 people who are living with HIV do NOT know their Status

Last year, 82.6 million adults 18-64 years of age reported they had been tested for HIV.

75% of people who tested positive for HIV were linked to medical care.

Is Lube increasing your risk for STD's and HIV?

The short answer:  Maybe.

A report was presented at a conference in Pennsylvania on Rectal Microbicides that stated that doing tests on some lubricants have shown that they have a high toxicity rate that has increased the breakdown of the integrity of cells in the mucosal lining of both vaginal and anal walls.

The short of it.  Astroglide has been shown to be the most toxic lubrication and shown to be on the same degree of toxicity as the dreaded Spermicide, Nonoxynol-9. 

For a synopsis of the multiple articles that have been released on this as well as media reports, go to HERE. 

Strategy Lab update from CHAMP

On the third Wednesday of every month, CHAMP (Community HIV/AIDS Mobilization Project) holds a call to discuss current topics, articles, and other issues that relate to the HIV/AIDS community.

First up was a discussion on a paper that was created titled "LGBT Marginalization Brief" by the HIV Prevention Justice Alliance.  The HIV Prevention Justice Alliance is a sub working group from CHAMP.  This paper wishes to address the focus that needs to be placed on LGBT individuals and the overarching issues that effect this community that contributes to the high rates of HIV infection.
The HIV Prevention Justice Alliance is looking for comments on this brief, so feel free to go to the website above and leave your comments.  Comments need to be in by JULY 6th. Some parts of this paper I wanted to point out by section is:

Statistics:

1.  Gay and Bisexual Men including other MSM comprise 48% of the one million people living with HIV and 54% of the 56,000 new HIV infections in the U.S.

2.  Gay and Bisexual men are 50 times more likely than any other group in the U.S. to become HIV positive.

3. HIV prevalence rates among transgender women exceeds 25 percent nationwide. 

LGBT Marginalization as a Driver of HIV

1.  Focus on the effect of Family marginalization of LGBT youth and the results of high rates of violence towards LGBT youth by family members, homelessness among LGBT youth and how this can relate to mental health issues that is shown to increase the rates of High Risk behavior this group will partake in.

2.  Invisibility of Same Sex relationships by society pushes these relationship issues "underground"  Discrimination by Health Care Providers towards LGBT individuals leads to inadequate health care for this population and inadequate means to address high risk activities individuals in this community may be experiencing. Also the lack of research surrounding the LGBT community and all encompassing life situations/behaviors that can contribute to HIV infection.

Recommendations for Action:

1. Heath and Human Service should implement a comprehensive anti-stigma and anti-discrimination initiative focused on eliminating disparities in health outcomes of LGBT populations.

2. Improve sexual health programming and hold HIV Prevention more accountable.

3.  Provide more strategic programming for LGBT populations.

4. Reform and Repeal laws and policies that reinforce stigma and discrimination including repealing Section 2500 of the federal Public Health Service Act ("No Promo Homo") which hinder HIV prevention by prohibiting the open discussion or "promotion" of any type of sexual behavior. 

Tuesday Quickies: Press Conference in Milwaukee, Mr. Friendly, Don't Ask, Don't Tell

Well hello there.  Wanted to just put down a few quick links and stories.  I wanted to post more of these when I find out about them, and possibly write up some larger articles about them.  For now, here are some cool things to look more into and check out.

1)  Press Conference from Milwaukee Health Department at Diverse and Resilient on June 10

   There is a great deal of attention being focused on Milwaukee in regards to their drastically large increase in HIV infections in the last 5 years.  While other areas of the state have seen a decline, Milwaukee has been increasing in HIV infections, particularly in African American men who have sex with other men.   The Center for Disease Control (CDC) has launched an investigation into the reasons for this increase while also pushing for local agencies and the Milwauke Health Department to create some solutions to curb these infections. 

This Thursday at 12:30pm, the Milwaukee Health Department plans to have a press conference at Diverse and Resilient to talk about their joint efforts in reaching into the African American LGBT community to combat these rising HIV infections.  There will be some clarification on why this agency instead of other agencies doing HIV prevention outreach will be the target of funds and support from the Milwaukee Health Department.

2).  An individuals who attended International Mr. Leather in Chicago came back with some great pins.  These pins were created by an individuals who wanted to address the stigma he saw in the HIV negative community towards individuals who were HIV +.   He created pins that were cute and were meant to start discussion around this issue.  Here's is a photo of them.

www.mrfriendly.info

3). Looks like the repeal of Don't Ask, Don't tell is getting closer to happening.  Not necessarily specific to HIV and sexual health, getting rid of homophobic and illogical laws of discrimination seem to be right up our alley.  Check out this press release from the White House:

http://www.whitehouse.gov/the-press-office/statement-president-votes-repeal-don-t-ask-don-t-tell

Members of the HIV Community sign on Letter to Boycott Arizona

via The Body

Immigration is one of the tougher issues we will address in America, but what is its connection to HIV/AIDS. Why should we care?


In the early days of the epidemic, people with AIDS faced stigma and discrimination. We were shunned and looked upon as second class citizens. As a result of society's unwillingness or inability to provide AIDS care and prevention, a whole new network of services were developed to directly address this epidemic.

This is our legacy.

What started as a fight against a disease, also because a fight against discrimination, homophobia, sexism and stigma.

Can we fight discrimination against gay men, and not stand up for people of color? Can we fight stigma against people of color and then not stand for women? Can we stand up for women, then not stand up for transgender women?

If this epidemic has taught us anything, it is the interconnection of all these issues. When we fight for people with AIDS, that means we are fighting for people. AIDS does not discriminate, unfortunately the same cannot be said for the rest of the world.

Stand with us in a boycott of Arizona until S.B. 1070 is repealed, overturned by the courts, or superseded by comprehensive federal immigration reform.

Click the link above to see the entire letter and to add your own name to the list of organizations upset about the new immigration laws coming from Arizona