National HIV Testing Day Congressional Call-In to Support Domestic HIV/AIDS Programs

image by pouwerkerk via Flickr Creative Commons

Can join people around the country for this national call-in day? Just call your Senators today, June 27, and ask them to fully support programs vital to people living with HIV/AIDS in Fiscal Year 2014.

Members of the Senate Appropriations Committee plan to vote on the federal spending bill that supports Fiscal Year 2014's domestic HIV/AIDS programs in early July. As a part of National HIV Testing Day today, June 27, we need to let Senators know that in addition to HIV testing, they should support full access to HIV prevention, care, treatment and research. Urge Congress to fully fund these programs now!

CALL YOUR SENATORS NOW: 

Dial the U.S. Capitol Switchboard at 202-224-3121 and ask for one of your Senators. Our NC Senators are Kay Hagan and Richard Burr. If you don't live in NC, you can find out who your Senator is here.

Use this message:
Hello, my name is [you name] and I am a constituent in [your hometown]. I am calling on National HIV Testing Day to ask my Senator to fully fund and prevent additional cuts to HIV prevention, care, treatment, and research programs.

[Please add one or more of the messages below]

• Supporting access to HIV testing means supporting access to the full continuum of HIV programs needed, including HIV prevention, care, treatment, and research.
• Early identification through HIV testing, and reliable access to effective HIV care and treatment helps people with HIV live healthy and productive lives and is cost efficient. Investing in HIV prevention today translates into fewer new infections and less spending on care and treatment in the future.
• In my state, such programs already have been cut and are greatly needed, because (insert local details or tell personal story).

If you have questions, please contact Donna Crews, Director of Government Affairs at AIDS United, at dcrews@aidsunited.org or (202) 595-4165. Thank you!

This alert is being sent by the AIDS Budget and Appropriations Coalition (ABAC), a working group of the Federal AIDS Policy Partnership (FAPP). ABAC is a coalition of over one hundred national and community-based HIV/AIDS and public health organizations that represent people living with HIV/AIDS, HIV medical provider and researchers, and advocates, as well as community organizations that provide critical HIV related health care and support services. ABAC advocates for increased resources for domestic HIV/AIDS programs across the federal government.

We can't stop now: Why I'm defending ADAP

Guest post by Michelle Stinson, CNA

I wouldn’t be here if it wasn’t for the AIDS Drug Assistance Program and if it wasn’t for people who believed in me when I didn’t believe in myself. Now the General Assembly might cut $8M from that program. We can’t let that happen.

I just came back from a retreat where many people were newly diagnosed with HIV, and I was struck by how much they are hurting – not because of stigma, but because of fear. Fear of their diagnosis. Fear of telling others. I have been there. I know what it was like. We were able to rally around those people. We told them “Life is going to be OK.” We told them “You will be able to go on.”

This is my fear – without enough funding for ADAP, how are we going to be able to help people who are newly diagnosed to live? We’re going to have to put them on a wait list.

When you’re dealing with an HIV diagnosis, it can be hard to get up out of the bed, put on a smile, and face life. If you have too many stressors, it makes it so you can’t put that smile on. It makes it harder to lead a healthy life. If you have to worry about where your medications are coming from – that’s big.

And if the state cuts certain kinds of medications out of the program, that’s big too. I know first-hand that when the state cut mental health medications, a lot of people got sick, got scared, hurt other people – but if the meds had just been there, those people would have been OK. It all ties together – mental, emotional, physical. If one piece is missing, it can make your whole life out of balance.

I’m living a healthy, happy life right now. I’m getting off many of my medications because my body is getting stronger. I’m getting healed from the inside out. I’ve got my CNA certification. I’ve been in the same home for seven years now. I voted for the first time last year. At one time, I didn’t think my life was that important. But now I am in the fight. I am not going back. I am here to stay. And I’m not afraid, because I’ve got too many people on my side.

This is not over. If we can get the General Assembly to put even part of that $8 million back in the AIDS Drug Assistance Program, that will be worth fighting for.

Please send a message now. Tell our Representatives and Senators that we need ADAP. 

Make sure that our legislators notice us and know that “no” is not an option.

Think Tax Reform Isn’t an HIV Issue? Think Again.

original photo by justinsomina via Flickr Creative Commons

Access to health care is important for people living with HIV/AIDS - but so is having groceries, housing, childcare, and transportation. If these basic needs aren’t met, keeping up with HIV/AIDS treatment is much harder. According to the National AIDS Strategy, the best way to guess someone’s chances of getting to their doctor’s appointments and taking their medications is to know is whether they have a stable housing situation. In North Carolina’s HIV needs assessment, housing and transportation rank just below medication in the top needs for people living with HIV, and food is not far behind.

That’s why NCAAN is paying close attention to the tax reform plans currently under debate at the NC General Assembly. One Senate plan includes tax hikes on food, medication, and medical services, all of which are critical for people living with HIV. Under the House tax plan, all of us with incomes below the top 20% would pay more in taxes. The top 20% would pay less. And all three plans being discussed by lawmakers point our state in the same direction: less revenue from income taxes and more from sales taxes, which would place a heavier burden on the shoulders of lower and middle-income families.

As HIV advocates, we can’t sit idly by while elected officials take our state down a path that will make it harder for people living with HIV and communities disproportionately affected by HIV to lead healthy, productive lives. Over 5,000 people living with HIV in our state are at or below 150% of the poverty level. The AIDS Drug Assistance Program ensures they have access to medications, but they need more than medications to survive, let alone thrive. These tax proposals make it harder for people living with HIV to afford the stable life they need to stay healthy and keep up with their medical care. And these proposals put a heavy burden on communities worst hit by HIV, including rural, African American, and Latino communities across North Carolina.

Can you write a letter to the editor in your local paper about how the tax shift would affect your community? We can help! Email Claire Hermann at claire@ncaan.org.