Happy New Year! With a new year comes new beginnings and very often it dictates needed change. The ADAP Advocacy Association is seeking to make some 'positive' (pun intended) changes to its HIV/AIDS advocacy agenda this year, especially in light of the current political environment.
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| Photo Source: pha-media.com |
The current occupant residing at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue has turned HIV/AIDS advocacy on its head, some of which impacted the AIDS Drug Assistance Program. Federal public policy is undergoing a lot of upheaval so many of the planned changes being implemented by our organization reflect the need to better engage local advocates at the community level. These changes will be periodically announced throughout the year, but this week's blog will highlight a few of them.
Our ADAP Blog will feature a monthly guest blog by advocates living with HIV/AIDS, whereby they will share their personal advocacy journey fighting the epidemic. Two such guest blogs were shared last year, by Wanda Brendle-Moss and Michael Zee Zalnasky. The guest blogs seek to share some valuable lessons learned by advocates.
Our Annual ADAP Conference will be replaced by numerous HIV/AIDS Fireside Chat Retreats, convened across the country. Two such Fireside Chats were held last year in Tampa, Florida and Boston, Massachusetts. Our Fireside Chats convene key stakeholder groups to discuss pertinent issues facing people living with HIV/AIDS and/or viral hepatitis. Patient advocates will continue to play a central role during these important discussions (with advocacy scholarships offered).
We will be re-convening our ADAP Advocacy Council (details forthcoming). Additionally, we will seek to leverage existing community partnerships with AIDS Service Organizations to better engage local advocates on Federal public policy issues. We anticipate 2019 being another challenging year for the HIV/AIDS community, but we're taking steps to ensure our advocacy remains relevant and effective.
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