December 15, 2006
TURNING UP THE HEAT IN S.C.
 |
Stephanie an HIV-positive woman from Orangeburg, SC who's Chair of SC-C2EA, waits to speak at a rally. |
The South Carolina ADAP crisis (four preventable deaths since the state started a waiting list last summer that's now up to 324 people in line for AIDS drugs) inspired a full week of action and activism by South Carolinians living with AIDS and their allies.
The results: new news coverage through press, radio and TV, new allies for action including key Latino, LGBT, union and progressive groups, and a first-ever discussion of the crisis with the governing board of the state Department of Health and Environmental Control (DHEC).
But there's still no action from SC Governor Mark Sanford or his compadres on the Budget and Control Board - and there's word of at least one more PWA on the ADAP waiting list who this week was moved into the intensive care unit at an SC hospital and is near death.
Sunday at the Governor's Mansion
A broad coalition of activist groups joined together at the Governor's Mansion on Sunday to call on Sanford to make a request for $3 million in emergency funding for ADAP at the scheduled Tuesday meeting of the state Budget and Control Board, whose spokespeople have said would move quickly to consider a request if one were made.
SC-C2EA activists were joined by representatives from the Acercamiento Hispano/Hispanic Outreach ContraSIDA Program, the South Carolina Progressive Network and the South Carolina Equality Coalition in calling for action.
"Poor people living with AIDS who end up on this waiting list are being abandoned to sickness and death," said Stephanie Williams, an HIV-positive woman from Orangeburg, SC who's Chair of SC-C2EA. "These budgeting decisions will hurt South Carolina. We need our neighbors well and participating in life, not wasting away in hospital beds."
The action drew another round of statewide press coverage to the crisis.
Monday on the phones
On Monday, thousands of folks from all over the country called Governor Sanford's office to ask him to act. The phone zap was fueled by activists who had attended NAPWA's Staying Alive conference in New Orleans over the weekend, as well as by participants in several AIDS policy and activist listserves.
The buzz continued all day and into the next, as advocates overheard the Governor's receptionist crisply transferring call after call "related to AIDS drugs."
"Those of us in South Carolina have all been touched and moved by the outpouring of love and support that we've received from people on this issue," said Karen Bates of SC-C2EA. She hopes the support from local, national and international advocates is a sign of reemerging unity after regional divides related to Ryan White reauthorization and funding shortfalls.
Tuesday at the BCB
But all those calls didn't get Sanford to act - he failed to add an ADAP item to the meeting agenda for the Budget and Control Board, and other members didn't step up either.
The BCB approved agenda items totaling over $111 million, including a ten-million-dollar Clemson University research project on a recently-discovered Confederate-era submarine.
"Drugs are available; people are ready to receive care. All we need is the $3 million dollars to pay for it," said Bates. "But at this BCB meeting the ADAP crisis was not on the agenda."
Wednesday at the Board of Health
So far, SC Health Commissioner Earl Hunter has been a real disappointment: his AIDS experts are telling him how badly emergency funding is needed, but he hasn't asked the BCB for an emergency appropriation or even for approval to use unspent money from the DHEC budget to end the waiting list.
To urge DHEC to act, SC-C2EA and the South Carolina Progressive Network sent a letter requesting a spot on the agenda for Wednesday's Board of Health and Environmental Control meeting.
But yet again, the official agenda didn't include any time to discuss the ADAP crisis or the preventable deaths of state residents. Board members did meet with Karen Bates of SC-C2EA after their official session to discuss and debate the crisis.
"We've gone through all the proper channels to bring this crisis to the attention of those who can stop it," said Bates. "But since policymakers have not acted, some families could be grieving the needless loss of a loved one over the holidays. And no one should have to spend the holidays wondering how long their charity meds will last or if someone already receiving ADAP will die so they can get treatment."
The South Carolina General Assembly convenes January 9. SC-C2EA plans to work from now until then to urge state government leaders to provide for the health and well-being of all South Carolinians - with emergency funding now and an emergency appropriation as the first order of business in the new legislative session.
LEARN MORE ABOUT ADAP
Download the latest ADAP Watch on AIDS Drug Assistance Programs published by the National Alliance of State and Territorial AIDS Directors on Tuesday.