Obama and HIV

As with most things its a good news, bad news scenario. Clearly, Obama is more in tune with the AIDS epidemic than his predecessor. He has proposed a budget increase for domestic HIV prevention and direct services. Moreover, his administration will soon launch Act on AIDS, an ambitious 5 year social marketing campaign to raise awareness of HIV/AIDS and encourage people to get tested. Sadly, however, his 2010 budget cuts funding to fight AIDS globally, cuts funding for federal AIDS housing, and fails to lift the federal ban on syringe exchange.

What people, including AIDS activists, need to realize is that he is playing with a shaky hand. Our nation is mired in the deepest recession in years, he is constantly under siege by the Republican party and he is trying desperately to hold onto a shaky coalition of "Blue Democrats," ie.. conservative Representatives from formerly Republican controlled states. He also has very ambitious plans for climate control and health care. So the question is: what are our expectations? I too, am a little disappointed but, I understand that he has to pick his battles right now.

Will the recession increase HIV infection?

The answer is, probably. We all know that one of the first casualties of economic down times are programs that help those in the most need. Its hard enough to make ends meet when there is less money and rising prices. People who were living check to check can find themselves out on the street if that check stops coming. Now comes word that two states with the highest numbers of persons living with HIV/AIDS, California and Pennsylvania, may be making significant cuts in vital HIV prevention and direct care services. The Governator (Arnold Swarzenegger) is proposing 55.5 million in funding cuts to HIV prevention, education and treatment programs. The Republican version of the state budget proposes to cut PA State AIDS Programs by 25%. Sadly, some of the proposed cuts could jeopardize federal matching funds, further spreading the pain.

It s not to late to send a message to state government legislators that cutting HIV/AIDS funding as well as other services to the poor and disabled in the midst of a surging epidemic is penny wise and pound foolish and will only exacerbate the problem.

A new survey by the Kaiser Family Foundation recently reported that, less than a year after the CDC revised their HIV statistics to reflect that the U.S. HIV epidemic is much larger than previously reported, the public’s sense of urgency is unexpectedly low. Some of the key findings were:

• Only six percent of American felt that HIV was the most urgent health problem facing the nation. Only 40% of African Americans and 35% of Latinos see it as a "more urgent" problem now than in 2006.
• Over one-half (51%) of the public says they would be uncomfortable having their food prepared by someone who is HIV positive.
• One-third (34%) of Americans incorrectly believe or are unsure whether HIV can be transmitted by one of the following actions: sharing a drinking glass (27%), touching a toilet seat (17%), or swimming in a pool with an HIV positive person (14%).
• Nearly one in five (18%) do not know there is no cure for AIDS and about one-quarter (27%) believe or are unsure whether former professional basketball player Magic Johnson has been cured of AIDS. Moreover, many misconceptions are more common in the African American community: 37% of African Americans thinks that Magic Johnson has been cured or are unsure; 36% believe that there is a vaccine available to prevent infection and; 30% believe that there are drugs available that can cure HIV and AIDS.

I am speechless. Its hard to believe after of this all of this time that we still have so many people who are so uninformed.

Obama launches new HIV/AIDS Awareness campaign

Today the White House announced a new initiative through the Department of Health and Human Services and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to launch a $45 million campaign to raise awareness on AIDS, an issue the President has spoken passionately about for years. This is the first federally funded national domestic HIV/AIDS campaign in almost twenty years. It appears that the program will especially target the African American community. The first phase will encourage people to be tested for HIV. Stay tuned!

Hey Pope, Can I have a moment with you...

Pope Benedict XVI recently stated that condoms are not the answer to the AIDS epidemic in Africa and can make the problem worse. His comments have set off a firestorm among, even many Catholic clergy who have dedicated their lives to helping people living with HIV around the world. I understand the Catholic Church's positions on fidelity and its overall teaching against artificial contraception. However, to state that condoms actually worsen the problem is going too far. Leaders, like Pope Benedict, what they say. the AIDS epidemic is no ordinary health problem and it will take extraordinary efforts to win this battle. Here's hoping that the Pope wakes up and chooses his words more carefully.

I just read a sobering story about the first person to be convicted in Idaho of knowingly spreading the HIV virus. This gentlemen, a term which I use loosely, who has served two jail terms for the same offense, is now facing new charges for the same offense. A grand jury on Tuesday returned an indictment charging him with seven counts of knowingly transferring the HIV virus. He has already served two separate jail terms of 3 and 7 years respectively. I hope that they finally put this serial perpetrator away. However, lost in this story is the fact that people continue to have umprotected sex and place themselves at risk despite the publicity about HIV and other sexually transmitted infections. Know your HIV status, but also insist that your partners get tested as well.

The Power of Protest

On February 12, 2009, organized by a Washington D.C. -based labor group called Change to Win, BEBASHI, CHOICE and a number of other organizations and individuals protested in front of the CVS store at Broad St. and Girard Avenue against their practice of locking up their condoms in the in targeted areas where mainly people in poverty reside and/or in predominately African American areas. While BEBASHI recognizes the right of retailers to display their merchandise as they see fit, they should also take into consideration the communities where they have chosen to place their stores. In this case, with HIV ravaging low-income communities, especially among the young, this policy, while probably designed to limit theft, also serves to discourage shoppers for buying condoms if they have to track down a busy store employee to find a key. As a result of the protest, CVS now displays some condoms in more convenient areas in more stores.