ADAP Stories: Chrishelle

Chrishelle and her husband Michael get ready to
deliver petition postcards in support of the AIDS Drug
Assistance Program to Senator Floyd McKissick.

Hometown: Durham

Occupation: Teacher

Q: How has the North Carolina AIDS Drug Assistance Program affected your life?

A: I am an ADAP client. It is very important to me that ADAP gets funding—it means I’m able to take my medication and don’t have to be overwhelmed with trying to figure out how to afford it.

I have many friends that are also in the ADAP program, and without that funding we wouldn’t have access to any of our medicine and without that medicine we would get very sick and possibly even die. This program enables us to live much longer than we ever could without our medication. My doctor says that I’m in the best health I’ve been in all my life. I am now married, and my husband and I are looking to have children. None of this would be possible without ADAP.

Interview by Blaire Benson

This ispart of a series of interviews highlighting the impact that the AIDS Drug Assistance Program has on the lives of people in North Carolina. If you would like to share your story, contact Claire at claire@ncaan.org. 

To take action to save the AIDS Drug Assistance Program from proposed budget cuts, send an email to your legislators now. 

ADAP Stories: Josh

Hometown: Raleigh

Profession: Non-Profit Development Associate

Q: What has North Carolina's AIDS Drug Assistance Program meant to you?

A: ADAP has meant that I’m able to work and that I was able to finish school and stay healthy enough to maintain a normal and productive life. I was diagnosed with HIV in 2006; I was a low-income student about to start graduate school and did not have health insurance. At the time I did not need medication, but they went ahead and enrolled me in ADAP. I was on it for about three years and then in 2009, while in my last year of graduate school and still without health insurance, the time came for me to begin taking medication. 

Because I was on ADAP, I was able to get my medication without any delay or complications. A month after I began medication my viral load was declared undetectable for the first time. Being able to go on medication through ADAP enabled me to take my comprehensive exams and complete all my final projects, graduating on time. 

ADAP also allowed me to change medication due to an allergic reaction I had. If I had been on a pharmaceutical patient assistance program there could have been a delay in changing my medication because I would have had to apply for another program through a different pharmaceutical company and hope that they approved me to receive medications. Being on ADAP allowed me to go on treatment when I needed to and to change treatment, as I needed to. 

When I came back to North Carolina for work after graduating and moving to another state, there was a waiting list for ADAP. That was of great concern for me because the job I had accepted didn’t cover health insurance. It was a very scary time for me because while on the ADAP waiting list I was reliant on a clinic supply for my medication. Thankfully I was a patient at a large clinic and was able to receive medication for the month or two that I was on the waiting list. 

ADAP was once again a lifesaver. It allowed me to be a productive citizen—to work and pay taxes and put a roof over my head and food in my mouth. I don’t want to lose ADAP. Time and again it’s been there to help pay for my medicine when I couldn’t have otherwise. Here I am speaking to you today, and I’m undetectable, and I’m able to be a healthy and productive member of society. 

ADAP enables people to move out of poverty and into the working class; it enables them to continue with life. ADAP is an economic builder—it helps the economy because it propels the HIV positive segment of our population out of lower socioeconomic levels; it gives them the ability to reach their potential and to care for themselves and their families. 

Interview by Blaire Benson

This is the first of a series of interviews highlighting the impact that the AIDS Drug Assistance Program has on the lives of people in North Carolina. If you would like to share your story, contact Claire at claire@ncaan.org. 

To take action to save the AIDS Drug Assistance Program from proposed budget cuts, send an email to your legislators now.

HIV/AIDS Advocates to Convene in Raleigh

PRESS RELEASE                                               CONTACT: Claire Hermann

April 4, 2013                                                                  (919) 533-9677, claire@ncaan.org

HIV/AIDS advocates from across North Carolina will gather in Raleigh on Tuesday, April 9, for a day of rapid-fire discussions and workshops with leaders in the HIV/AIDS advocacy community.

“I come to be encouraged, educated and inspired, and to lend my voice to the discussion,” said Savalas Squire, a minister from Winston-Salem who is living with HIV.

“Too many in our state are struggling to make ends meet, find quality healthcare, and find love and acceptance after being diagnosed as being HIV-positive,” said Squire.

The conference builds advocacy capacity among the community of people fighting for the rights of the 35,000 people living with HIV/AIDS in North Carolina and those at risk.

Many advocates will be meeting with legislators as well.

“Access to healthcare is the key to halting the HIV epidemic in North Carolina,” said Lisa Hazirjian, executive director of the North Carolina AIDS Action Network.

“As our elected officials make decisions that will have a profound impact on public health, it’s important that they hear from the people who are most affected,” Hazirjian said.

A key issue for advocates will be a looming $8 million cut to the AIDS Drug Assistance Program, which provides medication to thousands of low-income clients. Governor McCrory’s state budget proposal included the sharp reduction in funding.

Advocates say those cuts could bring back long waiting lists and severely restricted lists of covered medications. They have collected more than 3,500 postcards in support of the program, roughly one signature for every 10 people living with HIV in North Carolina.

Also on the policy agenda will be defending access to sexual health information and treatment for youth and decriminalizing syringes to prevent needle-stick transmission of HIV.

“Getting stuck by a needle was one of the scariest moments of my career,” said conference attendee Jen Earls, a former police officer. 

“I believe a combination of harm reduction programs and syringe decriminalization will make a vast difference by reducing needle-sticks to law enforcement officers and reducing HIV and hepatitis in the community," Earls said.

It will be a busy day in Raleigh. NC Women United and the Historic Thousands on Jones Street People’s Assembly Coalition will hold their advocacy days on Tuesday as well.    

“We will be standing in solidarity with the North Carolina State Conference of the NAACP, Historic Thousands on Jones Street People's Assembly Coalition, and NC Women United in support of policies that value the voices and well-being of all North Carolinians,” said Hazirjian.

The North Carolina AIDS Action Network and the North Carolina Harm Reduction Coalition will host the conference.

Community Partners include the Adolescent Pregnancy Prevention Campaign of North Carolina, Black AIDS Institute, Crape Myrtle Festival, Duke AIDS Legal Project, Equality NC, HIV-Hope Project, NC Fair Share, Rainbow Community Cares, Regional AIDS Interfaith Network, Southern Harm Reduction and Drug Policy Network, and Western North Carolina AIDS Project.

The conference is sponsored by AIDS United, the Elton John AIDS Foundation, Bristol Myers Squibb, and PhRMA. For more information, visit www.ncaan.org.

Governor's budget would make dangerous cuts to state AIDS program

PRESS STATEMENT                                          CONTACT: Claire Hermann

March 20, 2013                                                                          (919) 533-9677, claire@ncaan.org

GOVERNOR’S BUDGET WOULD MAKE DANGEROUS CUTS TO AIDS PROGRAM

Governor McCrory’s budget proposal would cut $8 million from the state’s AIDS Drug Assistance Program. The program provides medications to qualified North Carolinians living with HIV who cannot otherwise afford them.

"Governor McCrory’s choice to propose $8 million in cuts to this critical public health program is shortsighted and dangerous," said Lisa Hazirjian, executive director of the North Carolina AIDS Action Network.

“Ensuring that everyone living with HIV in North Carolina has access to the medications they need saves lives and lowers the rates of new infections.”

"The Governor should not abdicate his responsibility for the health of the people of this state," Hazirjian said.

Treatment allows people living with HIV to live relatively healthy lives. A 2011 UNC study showed that treatment can lower transmission rates by up to 96 percent.

About 35,000 North Carolinians are living with HIV. Almost 6,500 receive medications through the state’s HIV medication programs.

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Press Release: Greensboro advocate highlights women's HIV awareness

PRESS RELEASE                                     CONTACT: Claire Hermann, claire@ncaan.org

March 9, 2013                                                                 (919) 533-9677

One quarter of new HIV infections in North Carolina are among women, something that advocate Alicia Diggs is encouraging Greensboro residents to talk about on March 10, National Women and Girls HIV/AIDS Awareness Day.

Diggs, a mother who is completing a master’s degree in public health education, speaks widely about her experiences living with HIV. She says she’s motivated by the need for education, testing and support for women living with HIV or at risk of acquiring the virus.

“Women and girls need to be encouraged, especially those who have a history of falling down and getting back up,” Diggs said.  “We need to empower them so that they can say ‘I am awesome. I can do this.’ So that they can make the right decision and know that they are loved.”

Diggs is also the founder and director of I Will Live, which connects survivors of chronic illness, abuse, suicide, violence, and other traumas.

She says the decision to speak up about her status wasn’t easy.

“In the beginning, I was terrified,” she said. “You don’t know what people are going to say. But there’s a time in your life when you get tired of being scared. You hold your breath, and then you let go. And you find people who support you.

The theme for National Women and Girls HIV/AIDS Awareness Day is “Share knowledge. Take action.” That’s what Diggs challenges others to join her in doing. “Though you may speak to one person or a thousand people, you can make a difference,” she says.

The HIV epidemic in North Carolina hits some communities especially hard.

Black women accounted for 85 percent of all HIV cases diagnosed among women in North Carolina in 2010, making them 17 times more likely to acquire the virus than white women. Latino women were five times more likely to acquire the virus than white women.

Claire Hermann, Communications Coordinator at the North Carolina AIDS Action Network, says these inequalities can be addressed. “HIV is a justice issue,” she said.

“Research and medicine have progressed to the point that we can reduce transmission rates dramatically and allow people living with HIV to lead relatively healthy lives.”

“What we need now are policies that protect the rights of women and increase equitable access to information, testing, healthcare, and support.”

Diggs says she’ll keep speaking out. “It’s about saving lives,” she said. “We’re doing that.” 

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Related: North Carolina advocate Stephanie Brown joins Alicia Keys in spreading awareness on National Women and Girls HIV/AIDS Awareness Day.

NC Senate passes overdose prevention bill

The North Carolina Senate passed a bill this week that will prevent overdose deaths in North Carolina. This is great news. Drug users living with HIV are 74% more likely to die of a drug overdose. 

Our partners at the North Carolina Harm Reduction Coalition played a crucial role in advocating for the bill. Here's their summary of what it will do if it becomes law. 

1.) Permits a practitioner acting in good faith and exercising reasonable care to prescribe, dispense or distribute, directly or by standing order, an opioid antagonist (Naloxone/Narcan) to “a person at risk of experiencing an opiate-related overdose or a family member, friend, or other person in a position to assist a person at risk of experiencing an opiate-related overdose.” 

2.) Permits a person who received an opioid antagonist (Naloxone/Narcan) under the terms outlined above to administer that antagonist to another person if “the person has a good faith belief that the other person is experiencing a drug-related overdose and the person exercises reasonable care in administering the drug to the other person.” 

3.) Provides immunity from civil and criminal liability for the practitioner and administrator outlined above. 

4.) 911 Good Samaritan Provision....Provides limited protection from prosecution for any person who seeks medical assistance in good faith for a person experiencing a drug-related overdose and/or any person who experiences a drug-related overdose and is in need of medical assistance if the evidence for the prosecution was obtained as a result of the seeking of medical assistance.

 The bill passed 50 - 0, and now goes on to the House of Representatives.

Halting Medicaid Expansion is a bad move for NC

 PRESS STATEMENT                                          CONTACT: Claire Hermann

Feb 13, 2013                                                                  (919) 533-9677, claire@ncaan.org

HALTING MEDICAID EXPANSION A BAD MOVE FOR NORTH CAROLINA

The North Carolina House of Representative’s preliminary vote tonight to halt Medicaid expansion is bad news for hardworking North Carolinians. 

Medicaid expansion would insure 500,000 people, save lives, create jobs, sustain rural hospitals, and reduce the costs of uncompensated care.

Right now, low-income people living with HIV must wait until they are sick enough to qualify as disabled before they can be insured through Medicaid, even though we know that early treatment can improve health outcomes, reduce the cost of care, and dramatically slow transmission of the virus.

Expanding access to care for people living with HIV could be the key to turning around the HIV/AIDS epidemic in North Carolina, where an estimated 35,000 people are living with HIV.

The chance to improve the health of hardworking people in this state while creating and sustaining critical healthcare jobs should be more important than partisan politics.

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