No need to RSVP, Mike

For the past 13 years, on World AIDS Day, city officials have joined Housing Works to commemorate the lives of those who have died of AIDS. The best way to honor the dead is to support those currently living with HIV/AIDS. Mayor Bloomberg and the City Council did not fulfill this duty with their nearly $6 million hit to HIV and AIDS services, prevention and care in this year's budget, which will slash services to those hardest hit by the AIDS epidemic.

In an effort to call attention to the city's neglect of its residents living with HIV/AIDS, and to hold accountable those persons that are in many ways responsible for this failure to protect our city's poor and ill, Housing Works is publicly disinviting Mayor Bloomberg, City Council Speaker Christine Quinn, and anyone from the mayor's office or members of City Council who voted in favor of this year's budget to participate in our annual World AIDS Day "Reading of the Names" vigil in December. The vigil, where names of people who have died of AIDS are read aloud, has become a cornerstone of New York City's World AIDS Day commemorations...

Bachrach pushing for mandatory managed care for PWAs on Medicaid

Despite the fact that state Medicaid Director Deborah Bachrach told the Update in May that mandatory managed care for people with HIV/AIDS on Medicaid was not a done deal, talk within the Department of Health, the AIDS Institute and the Governor’s office suggests that we could see mandatory enrollment begin as soon as this coming January. On Wednesday, state officials presented the proposal to members of the New York State AIDS Advisory Council.

If the State's plan goes through, current regulations will be changed and New Yorkers on Medicaid who are living with HIV/AIDS will be forced to enroll in a managed care plan. Mandatory HMO enrollment will undoubtedly save the state money, but it's unclear if health outcomes will improve. Key pieces of government information have yet to be made public, including a "three system analysis" that looked at outcome indicators for people living with HIV/AIDS enrolled in the current mainstream plan, those enrolled in HIV Special Needs Plans, and those remaining in the fee-for-service system. Bacharach and AIDS Institute Director Humberto Cruz claim that the data from this and other departmental reviews indicate that mandatory enrollment would improve quality of care.

Mexico City: Housing advocates want the IAC to see the big picture

The link between homelessness and AIDS has for too long been neglected at International AIDS Conferences (IAC) past. But the need for housing as a crucial response to the epidemic will take center stage at the International Summit on Poverty, Homelessness and HIV/AIDS satellite session on August 3 at this year's IAC in Mexico City. The meeting will be held from 1:30 to 3:30 p.m. in Session Room 7. Experts hailing from South Africa, Haiti, Thailand, the Caribbean, the U.S. and Canada, as well as homeless people living with AIDS, will speak at the revolutionary meeting to create a plan to address homelessness and poverty as roadblocks to defeating the AIDS epidemic.

After the interactive summit—conducted in Spanish, English and French—participants will march to the IAC headquarters at the conference center and deliver a declaration demanding that "that policy makers address the lack of adequate housing as a barrier to effective HIV prevention, treatment and care; and that all governments fund and develop housing as a response to the AIDS pandemic."...

The epidemic is growing in these red states

More than 250 people gathered in Birmingham, Alabama this week at the first-ever Southern Access Summit. The summit centered around the release of the Southern States Manifesto: Update 2008. This report addresses the AIDS epidemic in the South and measures improvements since the first Southern States Manifesto was issued in 2002.

"One really positive thing since 2002 is there's more focus on the South. Eight years ago, no one thought about the South being the U.S. center of the epidemic," said Southern AIDS Coalition (SAC) community co-chair Kathie Hiers. Hiers and SAC government co-chair Evelyn Foust were honored with the Stephen G. Sherman Award at the summit for their work in addressing the AIDS epidemic in the South...

]]> http://www.hwupdate.org/update/2008/07/saving_the_south.html http://www.hwupdate.org/update/2008/07/saving_the_south.html Federal Fri, 25 Jul 2008 00:00:20 -0500 Senate approves $48 billion for global health; repeals immigration ban; some prevention problems

PEPFAR activism in action

Thanks to the tireless work of advocates and activists, the President's Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR) reauthorization passed by a vote of 80 to 16 in the Senate Wednesday, with $48 billion for AIDS, tuberculosis and malaria ($2 billion was appropriated for health and safety projects on American Indian reservations at the last minute). A major highlight of this bill—expected to be adopted wholesale by the House—is that the embarrassing Congressional HIV/AIDS travel and immigration ban was overturned. Now the Department Health and Human Services administration can end this appalling piece of prejudice whenever it pleases (time to start lobbying HHS Secretary Michael Leavitt!).

Senator Jesse Helms originally put the first incarnation of the ban into place. Ironically, Senator Elizabeth Dole, unsuccessfully sought to rename the PEPFAR reauthorization legislation after Helms. It is currently named the "Tom Lantos and Henry J. Hyde United States Global Leadership Against HIV/AIDS, Tuberculosis, and Malaria Reauthorization Act of 2008."...

Mississippi AIDS activist Robin Webb (center) and Robinson (right) accepts award on behalf of AAIM

The Update congratulates AIDS Action in Mississippi (AAIM), which was named Outstanding Community Organization by the American Civil Liberties Union of Mississippi on Friday June 11. AAIM was honored for pushing forward legislation that benefits people with HIV/AIDS and making Mississippians with HIV/AIDS aware of their rights. ACLU credits AAIM in the dramatic increase in the number of civil rights complaints they receive from people living with HIV/AIDS.

"AIDS Action in Mississippi has been doing some phenomenal work about the disparities in AIDS treatment in Mississippi and making sure young people can get comprehensive sex education," said Nshombi Lambright, ACLU of Mississippi's executive director. "In addition the work they've done to let people know about their rights brings an increased sense of awareness that there are organizations out there that can address these needs."...

Put some muscle in the ADA!

The Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) of 1990 is often interpreted too narrowly, a particularly damaging scenario for people living with HIV/AIDS, who frequently face discrimination. Even when people with HIV/AIDS file discrimination suits, they must first provide testimony about highly personal, intimate matters that are wholly irrelevant to the discrimination case at hand.

This injustice doesn't have to persist! The ADA Amendments Act of 2008 extends better protections to people with disabilities, including people living with HIV. The bill was passed in the House on June 25, and now needs to get through the Senate.

The ADA Amendments Act of 2008 improves the ADA by:..

Housing Works staff in Haiti

On June 27, a million people turned out for New York City Gay Pride. The rural town of St. Marc, Haiti, has no gay pride parade; coincidentally, however, on that same June day, 18 gay men gathered in solidarity and shared their experiences of gay Haitian life.

The group, which has yet to be named, is the first gay rights organization in Haiti outside of the capital of Port au Prince. At the June gathering, the members shared stories of discrimination and outright violence. One man spoke of having stones hurled at him as he walked down the street. Another talked of his family banishing him from his town.

Like much of the Caribbean, Haiti is hostile to gay rights, and very few people are openly gay. The new group is supported by the Fondation Esther Boucicault-Stanislas (FEBS), an AIDS organization founded by Keith D. Cylar Award winner Esther Boucicault. The group met in a pavilion that is part of a small compound FEBS leases so that people can meet for support activities without worrying about being identified. "This group was marginalized and neglected," Boucicault said."Taking into account that this group is at risk and vulnerable to HIV/AIDS, we wanted to create a space where they can meet, exchange ideas and help them fight against the stigma."...

Still more obstacles for federal AIDS housing

AIDS advocates shot each other congratulatory e-mails when the Senate appropriations committee suggested giving the Housing Opportunities for Persons with AIDS (HOPWA) program a slight boost—from $300 million in 2008 to $315 million next year. If the funding bump-up gets through House and Senate floor votes, it would be the highest ever appropriation for federal AIDS housing. But the increase is meager and does little to alleviate the chronic crisis of homelessness of people with HIV/AIDS in the United States.

"It's cause for celebration because it's something," said National AIDS Housing Coalition executive director Nancy Bernstine. NAHC recommended $470 million for the appropriation this year. Still, said Bernstine, "we're pleased to see the program continue to grow. It's a recognition that housing has a central role in prevention."...

Helms and Bono

Although former North Carolina Senator Jesse Helms died last week, his hateful HIV/AIDS policies remain. If Helms had merely been all talk—he once said of gay people, "It's their deliberate, disgusting, revolting conduct that is responsible for the disease" of AIDS—that would have been bad enough. But Helms' bigotry remains in the form of the U.S. travel and immigration ban for people with HIV/AIDS, and thousands of new infections that could have been prevented by sound sex education.

"His longterm legacy will have to be judged for what it was—he willfully participated in the genocide of millions of people guided by religious fervor," said ACT UP's Eric Sawyer.

The much-loathed HIV immigration and travel ban originated with Helms' 1987 amendment directing the Public Health Service to add HIV to its list of "dangerous contagious diseases." While the Health Service later proposed ending the ban, in 1993, Congress approved a measure that made the HIV immigration and travel ban law. Included in the President's Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR) reauthorization that has yet to pass the Senate is the HIV Nondiscrimination in Travel and Immigration Act that would allow the Department of Homeland Security to lift the ban...

Light up the Senate switchboard for PEPFAR flickr.com/photos/leecullivan/102377512/

Wednesday night, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) filed a motion that would circumvent seven obstructionist Senate Republicans and allow the President's Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR) reauthorization (S..2731) to move forward. There will also be an attempt to raise a budget point of order against the bill due to the HIV/AIDS travel ban provision. Sixty votes are needed to overcome this budget point of order, and if that threshold is not met, the bill will fail for this year. The vote could happen as early as today and we need your help to get the 60 votes needed that will move the bill forward!

With lackluster commitments coming out of the G-8 summit this week, it's more important than ever that the U.S. give its fair share in its fight against AIDS, TB and malaria—even if other developed countries aren't.

Please seek your senator's support! Call the U.S. Capitol switchboard at (202) 224-3121 and ask to be connected to the senator of your choice. When you speak to a person say, "I would like Sen. ____ to authorize the full $50 billion over five years in the PEPFAR reauthorization bill and resist amendments to take away funding and resist any push to insert further abstinence only provisions."

Baker: sound voice for people with HIV/AIDS

Gov. David Paterson announced Tuesday that Dennis Whalen will serve as Interim Director of State Operations and Joe Baker has been promoted to Acting Deputy Secretary for Health and Human Services to the Governor.

As director of state operations, all of Paterson's undersecretaries will report to Whalen, and he will be directly responsible for state funding. This is a big deal, said an Albany insider, since next year New York state will likely face pressure to make steep budget cuts like those that just happened in New York City. "Having someone with very deep and very wide experience on HIV/AIDS will be very valuable," the source said.

Whalen has worked behind the scenes since the beginning of New York's response to the AIDS epidemic. Before being appointed to his most recent position, Whalen was Spitzer's Deputy Secretary for Health and Human Services. As the governor's go-to guy on health policy, he fought for important issues such as Medicaid reform and SSI invisibility. Whalen previously served in the Department of Health as Executive Deputy Commissioner, Director of the Office of Health Systems Management, and Executive Deputy Director of the AIDS Institute...

...to join NAHC! flickr.com/photos/trackrecord/185514449/

An ever-growing body of evidence shows that housing is a crucial tool for fighting the AIDS epidemic. And for the past 15 years the National AIDS Housing Coalition (NAHC) has led the way in gathering this information and educating the public about how housing=healthcare and prevention. The only national organization focusing exclusively on the housing needs of persons living with HIV/AIDS, NAHC works at the federal, state, and local levels to educate and inform advocates, service providers, the business community, and policy makers about the funding priorities that impact housing options for the most vulnerable.

NAHC's leadership on three national AIDS and Housing Research Summits have attracted top researchers from across the globe who have brought together a stellar body of research that empirically demonstrates the correlation between housing, health care, community stability, and cost savings.

Become a NAHC member and help build on what has been started! As a membership-focused organization NAHC maintains a presence in more than half of U.S. states and Canada, and is aiming for full participation from every state and territory. To join the National AIDS Housing Coalition call 202-347-0333 or click on nationalaidshousing.org/join-nahc/...

This week's Update is dedicated to the memory of John Hyslop, a renowned archaeologist and loving friend who died of complications from AIDS in 1993.

Quinn and Bloomberg justify their budget as Council looks on

Last Sunday—LGBT Pride Day in New York City—Mayor Michael Bloomberg and City Council Speaker Christine Quinn shook hands and kissed on a 2009 city budget that included $6 million in heinous cuts to HIV/AIDS programs. Even though there was a budget surplus, the mayor wanted to save for a rainy day—and protect an unnecessary "tourist tax." Bloomberg demanded harsh cuts, pitting poor against poor, while the council spun his demands as a "victory" because in the end education funding was spared at the expense of social services. For a full budget breakdown of the HIV/AIDS reductions click here.

Budget meetings were highly secretive and many councilmembers were cut out of the budget process—so much for Quinn’s vaunted transparency. In the end, funding for services for people with living HIV/AIDS and harm reduction programs were decimated. Money for HIV/AIDS counseling programs and a pilot program set up last year to get HIV-positive people out of shelters and into stable housing was completely eliminated, an inauspicious move in Bloomberg's five-year plan to end homelessness. ...