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September 14, 2007
DOSE OF COMMON SENSE
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Narcan prevents overdose and saves lives |
When someone accidentally overdoses on heroin or another opioid, chances are pretty slim they’ll be hanging out with a medical professional just right then. In most of the country, that means that no one on the scene could administer Naloxone (Narcan), a prescription medication that reverses an overdose by blocking heroin or other opioids in the brain for 30 to 90 minutes—and which can save the life of someone who’s overdosing.
But New York is one of two states (New Mexico is the other) where ordinary folks— not just medical providers— are allowed to administer Naloxone. Since the law was put into place on April 1, 2006, more than 2,000 people have been certified to provide the treatment and more than 200 reversals have been performed.
New York State's initiative was modeled after a program initiated by Lower East Side Harm Reduction, and has been fully supported by the New York State Health Department. "We realized we had a problem in the state, of people dying due to heroin and other opioid abuse," said Alma Candelas, associate director for the division of HIV prevention at the NYS health department. "We'd like to see the program grow."
Front-line service providers say the program just makes sense. "Supplying Narcan to drug users helps, because think of the people who are around when someone's overdosing. People getting high themselves," said Derek Wyche, a community follow-up worker at Housing Works, who leads an Overdose Prevention class that includes sessions about how to use Naloxone, one of 20 programs sanctioned by New York State to prescribe Naloxone.
Read the rest: "DOSE OF COMMON SENSE"
YOUNG MSMS IN NYC FACE HIV CRISIS
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GMAD’s Osubu says it’s about “who we are as a community” |
The New York City Health Department reported Tuesday that new HIV diagnoses in the city are rising dramatically among young men who have sex with men (MSM). Even as total infections among MSM have decreased by five percent since 2001, new infections among MSM under age 30 have increased by 33 percent during the past six years, according to the Department, from 374 in 2001 to almost 500 in 2006.
The percent of new infections among black men in that age group increased by 38 percent, with young black men accounting for 20 percent of all total new infections in 2006. Blacks and Hispanics still bear a disproportionate share of New York City’s HIV burden. Among all MSM, blacks got twice as many “new” HIV diagnoses as whites in 2006 and Hispanics received 55 percent more than whites.
Also disturbing is that 20 percent of MSM diagnosed with HIV received a concurrent diagnosis of AIDS, meaning that they were not getting tested early and missed opportunities to receive crucial medical and supportive care.
The new statistics come as no surprise to those who work on the front lines of the youth AIDS epidemic. "Young people are coming in, and often they already have an AIDS diagnosis," said Johnny Guaylupo, 25, a Housing Works outreach coordinator who was diagnosed with HIV at age 17. "Sometimes they're homeless, or sex workers. They're just doing what they have to do to survive."...
Read the rest: "YOUNG MSMS IN NYC FACE HIV CRISIS"
ICE UNDER FIRE
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Victoria Arellano |
The tragic death of an HIV-positive transgender Mexican immigrant has led an angry activist movement to hold the Department of Homeland Security accountable for the inhumane conditions and deficient medical care at U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) detention centers, where at least 65 deaths have occurred since 2004 and complaints about lack of medical treatment are frequent.
Victoria Arellano died in a San Pedro, California detention center in August after ICE officials denied her repeated requests for AIDS medications.
Testimony from other detainees makes it clear that when Arellano entered the facility she was on HIV medication but asymptomatic and visibly healthy. Although Arellano identified and lived as a woman, ICE placed her in a male unit. Six weeks later she was dead. Not only is Arellano's death suspect, but testimonies and media accounts state she was subjected to cruel and degrading treatment by the prison guards while she was dying, including being shackled to her bed.
"This was a case of ICE basically watching someone deteriorate and die in front of their eyes," said Megan McLemore, a researcher at the Human Rights Watch who visited the San Pedro facility after Arellano's death and is compiling a report on treatment of people with HIV/AIDS within ICE facilities...
Read the rest: "ICE UNDER FIRE"
TOOL TIME!
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Now start building some housing! |
Did you know that research shows that housing assistance for people living with HIV/AIDS is linked to reduction of HIV risk behaviors, thereby lowering the number of new infections? And did you know that each prevented HIV infection saves over $300,000 in life-time medical costs?
Even if you know the importance of housing as a crucial part of HIV/AIDS prevention and health care, your elected officials might not. Now advocates who need to demonstrate that AIDS housing is an essential part of prevention and health care can get all the facts and figures in one place: the National AIDS Housing Coalition (NAHC) Policy Tool Kit
With this online guide, advocates can become insta-experts on the importance of housing for PLWHA. "Across the country, advocates have been looking for ways to get the message across about the importance of housing to policy makers across the country," said Nancy Bernstine, NAHC executive director. "Now we have all the research tied together in a user-friendly format."
Advocates and activists in every city and town probably won't be able to bring in the experts to address their their representatives directly like New Yorkers had the opportunity to do last week. But the NAHC tool kit has all the necessary ingredients for a top-notch policy briefing that could convince policy makers to devote new resources to housing assistance for people living with HIV/AIDS...
ACTION ALERT: PART D MEANS DO IT!
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Medicare Part D should mean ‘drugs’ to fight HIV |
Last month the House of Representatives passed a bill to reauthorize the State Children’s Health Insurance Program. This bill, the Children’s Health and Medicare Protection Act of 2007 (CHAMP), also includes critical patient protections for the Medicare prescription drug program.
Specifically, the House-passed bill includes two provisions that would improve access to lifesaving medications for Medicare beneficiaries with HIV/AIDS—at no or little cost to the federal government. The measure allows costs paid by AIDS Drug Assistance Programs (ADAPs) and the Indian Health Service for Medicare Part D beneficiaries to count toward the annual out-of-pocket cost threshold under Part D and requires Medicare Part D prescription drug plans cover classes of drugs critical to the treatment of HIV/AIDS, mental illnesses, cancer, epilepsy, autoimmune diseases and organ transplants.
The Senate bill does not include these protections and the Senate leadership and Finance Committee Chair Max Baucus (D-MT) and Ranking Member Chuck Grassley (R-IA) have not committed to include these important provisions in any future negotiations.
Please help make sure that these essential Medicare improvements become law. Take a few minutes to call both your Senators to let them know that these provisions are important to people living with HIV/AIDS, and to ask them to fight for the inclusion of our low-cost Medicare provisions in the final SCHIP bill...
Read the rest: "ACTION ALERT: PART D MEANS DO IT!"
POVERTY POW-WOW
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Greenberg says we can cut U.S. poverty in half (and have the rich pay for it!) |
Last April veteran anti-poverty advocates linked to the Center for American Progress (CAP) released a twelve-point plan to cut poverty in the United States in half in the next ten years. To pump up the proposal, Mark Greenberg, Executive Director of CAP's Poverty Task Force and one of the authors of the report, came to New York City on Wednesday to speak to the Welfare Reform Network (of which we're a member!).
Greenberg said response to the report "From Poverty to Prosperity: A National Strategy to Cut Poverty in Half," has been mixed. Conservatives have criticized the $90-billion-per-year price tag as too high and attacked the plan for failing to include marriage incentives.
But Greenberg said the cost of the proposal could be funded simply by scaling back just a few of the massive tax cuts Republicans have given to the richest Americans during the Bush administration. And he says that CAP's plan isn't radical, but rather expands on existing anti-poverty programs that have been proven to work. Key goals of the plan: promote a living wage, increase job opportunities, ensure economic security and help low-income families build up wealth. Specific recommendations include an expansion of the earned income tax credit (EITC), guaranteed child care assistance for low-income families, stable employment for former prisoners and—drum roll, please—two million new housing vouchers to help people move to and stay in opportunity-rich areas...
Read the rest: "POVERTY POW-WOW"