It's Time We Tweeted to President Obama

On Thursday, September 15th starting at 7:00am, President Obama will be put on notice that the ongoing crisis facing the AIDS Drug Assistance Programs (ADAPs) is totally unacceptable. But this notice won't be sent via email, fax, snail mail or demonstration in front of the White House. So how will this message be sent, you ask?

The ADAP Advocacy Association (aaa+) is taking a page out of the playbook from the "Arab Spring" protesters in order to launch its "ADAP Fall" social media campaign starting with a “Obama-ADAP Twitter Day.” The purpose of the campaign is to raise awareness about the growing ADAP waiting lists by leveraging one of the leading social media outlets. Twitter users are asked to direct their hashtag #ObamaADAP Tweets at President Obama using handle @whitehouse.


Ultimately, aaa+ and many other national, state and local HIV/AIDS organizations want the Obama Administration to reprogram funding from the U.S. Department of Health & Human Services toward the Ryan White CARE Act and ADAP, specifically. President Obama did something similar last year, but the $25 million transfer wasn't nearly enough funding to make a noticeable dent in the escalating ADAP waiting lists.

Twitter users are asked to do the following on Thursday, September 15th starting anytime after 7:00am:

Send Tweets hourly;

Use Twitter hashtag #ObamaADAP in the same Tweet;

Direct Tweets at President Obama with handle @whitehouse; and

Encourage friends and colleagues to Tweet, too!

To view the aaa+ profile on Twitter, go to https://twitter.com/#!/adapadvocacy.

The goal on September 15th is to make hashtag #ObamaADAP trending on Twitter with ADAP-related tweets directed at President Obama by using handle @whitehouse. Some example tweets might include:

@whitehouse ADAP waiting lists continue to grow! We need your leadership President Obama to end #ObamaADAP crisis!

President Obama, please end the ADAP waiting lists! @whitehouse How long will you let this #ObamaADAP crisis last in the United States?

@whitehouse End ADAP Waiting Lists Now #ObamaADAP

As of September 1st, there were 9,298 individuals in 11 states on ADAP waiting lists, including Alabama with 211 individuals; Florida with 4,022 individuals; Georgia with 1,715 individuals; Idaho with 31 individuals; Louisiana with 1,056 individuals; Montana with 28 individuals; North Carolina with 340 individuals; Ohio with 59 individuals; South Carolina with 836 individuals; Utah with 50 individuals; and Virginia with 950 individuals.