November 1, 2007 | Main | November 16, 2007
November 9, 2007
YOUR HELP IS NEEDED!
the Dominican Republic
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The Dominican Republic was ravaged by Noel |
Of all the countries it affected, Tropical Storm Noel hit the Dominican Republic and Haiti the hardest. In the Dominican Republic, Noel caused more than 82 deaths and left more than 67,000 people without homes. In Haiti, at least 64 people were reported dead, and thousands are homeless. From now until World AIDS Day on December 1, Housing Works and AID for AIDS will be collecting essential items to send to Haitians and Dominicans living with HIV/AIDS.
"People with HIV/AIDS in the Dominican Republic and Haiti are among the most marginalized in both countries," said Housing Works President and CEO Charles King. "They are in areas that are missed by other relief efforts, so it is crucial they receive the essential goods they need."
Donations, including first aid kits, clothing and canned goods (click on "Read the Rest" to see full list) will be accepted at all Housing Works locations, as well as at the Housing Works' World AIDS Day Vigil at City Hall park for the 24-hour "reading of names" on December 1. If your organization would like to be a drop-off point for donations, e-mail terri smith-caronia at
smith-caronia@housingworks.org. If you would like to financially contribute to the effort you can donate to Housing Works here or AIDS for AIDS here and specify the money is for the "Noel AIDS Relief."...
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FIGHTING BACK FOR PUERTO RICO
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People are dying of AIDS in Puerto Rico |
Despite claims to the contrary by the Puerto Rican government, the island’s ongoing AIDS catastrophe shows no signs of abating. That’s why activists are once again banding together to demand that the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services and the Puerto Rican government address the mismanagement and fraud preventing Puerto Ricans living with HIV/AIDS from accessing basic services and lifesaving medications.
On Tuesday, November 13, Housing Works, the Latino Commission on AIDS, the Community HIV/AIDS Mobilization Project, UDCAS NY and UDCAS Puerto Rico will collaborate on a phone zap targeting Puerto Rican Gov. Anibal Acevedo Vila and San Juan Mayor Jorge Santini Padilla to tell them people in Puerto Rico are dying of AIDS because of their negligence. In October, a phone zap of Health and Human Services Secretary Michael Leavitt's office on Latino AIDS Awareness Day, had HHS phones ringing every five minutes, ensuring that the department was aware of Puerto Rico’s troubles.
On Wednesday November 14, in New York City, Housing Works, UDCAS New York, and the Washington Heights CORNER Project will hold a press conference at Foley Square (location pending permit), demanding immediate federal control of AIDS funding in Puerto Rico; an independent authority to investigate AIDS funds mismanagement and come up with a plan to end it; and immediate action to provide HIV prevention tools to IV drug users, who account for the majority of new infections in Puerto Rico...
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PLEADING THE FIFTH?
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That's not Thompson, but Jennings' mug with Huckabee shows she's not afraid of Republicans |
Presidential candidate Fred Thompson apparently expected that after his speech to veterans outside the Capitol building in Columbia, South Carolina, on Tuesday all he would have to do was sign autographs and shake a few hands. But Campaign to End AIDS-South Carolina member Duke wanted more than a handshake. He wanted an answer. Duke said, “Senator Thompson, I am a person living with AIDS who was on the waiting list for medication in South Carolina. There were 500 people on the list and some of them died. Does you health plan provide life saving medication for AIDS, diabetes and other life threatening conditions?"
“We need to do what we can,” was the former senator’s vague response, Duke said. Thompson then continued shaking the hands of less inquisitive people.
“I wasn’t satisfied with Thompson’s response,” said Duke, who just recently got off the ADAP waiting list and has gone without AIDS medications three times in the last two years. “It was a textbook answer and I don’t think he was ready for it. It didn’t look like he had made a commitment...”
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HARD TO SAY I'M SORRY
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AIDS misinformation isn't a game |
Three years ago, Jeanne Bergman was surprised to learn that a respected pediatric AIDS nursing facility, the only one of its kind in New York, was under attack. Bergman, a Housing Works alum and AIDS activist now with AIDStruth.org and the Center for HIV Law and Policy, discovered that Incarnation Children’s Center (ICC), a residence in Washington Heights which provides specialized care for children and teens living with HIV/AIDS, had been demonized by an HIV denialist propaganda film called Guinea Pig Kids. The independently produced film, which was aired by the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) in 2004, purported to expose the use of children of color in “futile” and “dangerous” medical experiments.
Bergman looked closely at the film, compared the innuendo against the facts, and, with other advocates and scientists, brought a series of complaints to the BBC. Two weeks ago, the media website of the U.K. paper, The Guardian, reported that Bergman’s efforts were beginning to pay off. In unpublished documents examined by the Guardian, the BBC apologized after admitting that the film contained “serious breaches” of its editorial guidelines on accuracy and impartiality. The BBC further conceded that the film intentionally ignored the life-saving efficacy of the drugs being studies, and it was fundamentally biased towards the views of “HIV denialists.”
The BBC’s adjudication of the complaint and apology can be read at http://www.hivlawandpolicy.org/resources/BBC%20July31%202007%20letter.pdf...
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LABOR PAINS
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And when it's all done, instead of a baby, you could get a Presidential veto |
There's some good, some bad, and some it-could-be-worse-but-could-be-much-better in the 2008 Labor, Health and Human Services Appropriations bill (H.R. 3043) that passed in the Senate 56-37 this week. Advocates expect it to pass in the House today, but without a veto-proof majority. Bush has threatened to veto the $606 billion bill because it includes $9 billion more in discretionary spending than he wants (that's what happens when you wage a multibillion dollar war without raising taxes). House Dems tried to combine the HHS bill with a Military Construction-VA bill, but the Senate said no dice, and the bills were divided.
The good: Cooler heads prevailed in conference, and Sen. Jim DeMint's reactionary amendment prohibiting the use of Health and Human Services funds for any cities that create legal safe-injection drug sites was canned. DeMint proposed this amendment in response to a preliminary meeting discussing the possibility of such a site in San Francisco, prompting advocates to blast Congresspeople with letters and phone calls. Apparently the outrage worked.
"Our biggest concern was that this would chill the debate, but now states and cities are free to continue the important discussion about safe injection sites," said Bill Piper, federal policy director of the Drug Policy Alliance. "We're glad Congress put science ahead of politics."
The bad: Unfortunately Congress put politics ahead of science when it came to perennial sacrificial lamb abstinence-only education, which study after study has proven ineffective. The House increased Community-Based Abstinence Education funding by $28 million to $141 million in an effort to create veto-proof majority for the HHS bill. Even with this little trick, they still couldn't drum up the votes-if the bill passes, America's youth are stuck with state-supported sex-ed misinformation. At least a Bush veto would mean more time to lobby Congress—particularly Speaker Nancy Pelosi—to delete these dreadful ab-only dollars...
HE'S GOING TO DISNEYLAND!
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Caleb keeps on swimming |
Along with some fired-up Campaign to End AIDS activists, HIV-positive toddler Caleb Glover was finally allowed to make a splash at the Wales West RV Resort in Alabama this September, after being denied entry to the facility's pool and showers. That triumph was just the beginning of the ongoing adventures of everyone's favorite (now) 3-year-old activist. His foster mother Silvia Glover—who is far along in the process of adopting Caleb—informed the Update that she was contacted by a lawyer from the U.S. Justice Department about investigating the possibility of a suit under the Americans with Disabilities Act against Wales West. The U.S. Justice Department made clear to the Update that its investigation is still in its earliest exploratory stages. But who knows? We could be reporting on a Caleb's Law in the future.
Meanwhile, the Glovers are going to Disneyland! Brian Hodes, who is organizing a nationwide bike ride on World AIDS Day in honor of Caleb, is also hammering out details to bring the Glovers on an all-expenses paid trip to Disneyland for the closing ceremony of another AIDS bike benefit called AIDS LifeCycle. So far Disneyland has agreed to supply free tickets, and Hodes is working with donors to finance hotel and airfare.
Hodes said that when he spoke to Mrs. Glover and saw a picture of Caleb, he realized the importance of bringing Caleb to Disneyland. "Bless these people. We need more people like this in the world," Hodes said of the Glovers, who have had more than 60 foster children. "This is just my opportunity to pay it forward." Hodes decided to dedicate a World AIDS Day bike-ride to Caleb after hearing about his Wales West saga on Good Morning America. "I just couldn't believe this innocent child could be treated the way he was," Hodes said....
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