AIDS Drug Assistance Program Advisory Council Invites POZ Advocates to the Table

By: Brandon M. Macsata, CEO, ADAP Advocacy Association

Earlier this month the ADAP Advocacy Association announced that is was soliciting applications from HIV-positive advocates interested in serving on its newly-minted AIDS Drug Assistance Program Advisory Council (hereafter referred to as the "Council"). Our Council will solicit consumer input on improving access to timely, appropriate care and treatment for people living with HIV/AIDS under the AIDS Drug Assistance Program (ADAP).

Our Council, generally speaking, is charged with discussing policy and program issues confronting ADAP consumers, such the ongoing public financing of the Ryan White CARE Act and the delivery of its services throughout the HIV care continuum. Its main function will be advising the organization's board of directors on ADAP-related matters from the consumer perspective on these matters.

Under the leadership of the Valley AIDS Information Network's President & CEO, Robert "Bob" Skinner, our Council will ensure "that the voice of persons living with HIV/AIDS shall always be at the table and the center of the discussion." Bob has been active in his advocacy for over thirty years. In 2013, Bob was named one of the "100 Unsung Heroes" by POZ Magazine. He has also been an active member of the ADAP Advocacy Association, attending almost all of our previous Annual ADAP Conferences in Washington, DC. More recently, Bob was honored by the Community Access National Network (CANN) as the recipient of its inaugural Gary R. Rose Advocacy Scholarship.

Robert Skinner; Photo Source: Gazette Times

Additionally, two advocates – LaWanda Wilkerson from Henderson, North Carolina, and Noel Chavez-Guizar from Denver, Colorado – will serve as the Council's co-vice chairs. Both are emerging advocacy leaders in their respective states.

Some of the possible issues that may come before the Council for discussion included ADAP drug formularies and the need for greater transparency, ADAP structural deficits, ADAP privacy breaches (as seen in California and Ohio), 340B drug pricing program reform, regional access and health disparities, as well as ways to improve outcomes. The Trump Administration's recent call to end the AIDS epidemic by 2030 is also important, considering its past record on HIV/AIDS over the last two years.

HIV-positive advocates interested in submitting an application should do so online at https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/3CD98ZX.