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October 3, 2008

DYING IN OXFORD

Stand Against AIDS caps off with somber funeral; the inside scoop on why McCain committed to a National AIDS Strategy
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Funeral procession through Oxford

As McCain and Obama were preparing to debate on the University of Mississippi campus last Friday, a mile down the road, AIDS activists from the Stand Against AIDS solemnly carried a casket around Oxford's pristine town square, with mourners holding black umbrellas walking behind. The dramatic memorial commemorated the 268 people in the United States who died of AIDS last week.

"At Housing Works, there were five funerals this month. And that's just one organization in one city. This is a completely preventable disease but people are still dying," Housing Works President and CEO Charles King told the tearful crowd after the march.

This somber event capped off a week of more festive rallies and protests in Oxford as part of the Stand Against AIDS, where some 100 activists arrived from around the country gathered to demand that the next president take meaningful steps to create a National AIDS Strategy in his first 100 days of office. Obama committed to a National AIDS Strategy back in October 2007 but has not given a time frame. On Wednesday, McCain pleasantly surprised the AIDS community by telling the Washington Blade that he too supported the creation of a National AIDS Strategy. "Let's roll up our sleeves and put together a National AIDS Strategy for more effectively addressing the domestic challenges," he stated in the article, an interview done via e-mailed questions. McCain also stated his support as abstinence as a component of sex education...

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AIDS CUTS=DEATH

Advocates outraged by projected cuts to services in City and State
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ABAC chairperson Rivera

In the face of more budget cuts by New York City next week and New York State after the election, AIDS advocates are uniting in plans to fight back and remind government officials that the rise in new HIV infections won't drop just because the stock market does.

"These cuts are going to have some serious consequences on real people's lives," said Manuel Rivera, president of the PWA-driven AIDS Budget Action Coalition. "Our elected officials need to know people with AIDS aren't going to be helpless bystanders as new infections rise and lifesaving support services are cut."

Mayor Michael Bloomberg has asked his deputies to trim the budget 2.5 percent for the rest of the fiscal 2008-09 year, and five percent for the following year by Wednesday, October 8. Deputy Mayor for Health and Human Services Linda Gibbs is in charge of the health budget, and will decide what is on the chopping block. The new danger for AIDS services comes on the heels of devastating cuts in June, including $6 million in cuts to AIDS services, including syringe exchange, testing and prevention last June. In Albany, Gov. David Paterson is cowardly holding off until after the elections to swing his budget axe, and is expected to try to add to the August state budget cuts come November...

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TIME TO KEEP OUR EYE ON THE PRIZE: UNIVERSAL HEALTH CARE

By David Ernesto Munar
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Munar: Let's focus on healthcare reform and National AIDS Strategy.

Editor's note: This op-ed is responding to Housing Works National Advocacy and Organizing Vice President Christine Campbell's op-ed "DON'T WAIT UNTIL 2012 TO REAUTHORIZE RYAN WHITE." Campbell argued that we should not delay reauthorizing the Ryan White CARE Act.

As we approach another congressional deadline involving the Ryan White HIV/AIDS Treatment Act—the nation's flagship HIV/AIDS safety net program—people living with HIV/AIDS and our advocates have some difficult soul-searching to do. In order to be effective, we must pursue a path that is most likely to result in better and more accessible services for people in our communities.

Chief among the questions we must ask ourselves and others: What ails Ryan White? Reading Christine Campbell's excellent op-ed, I couldn't help but list a few of my own gripes.

First, there is not nearly enough money devoted to the program to meet the spiraling set of needs of the growing HIV-positive population in the U.S.

Second, support service access has been greatly reduced or constrained (largely related to my first point)...

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