'ADAP Saves Lives: End the Wait' National Advocacy Campaign Moves Into Full Gear

By: Michelle Anderson, MA, Grassroots Advocacy & Patient Storytelling Consultant, ADAP Advocacy

For people living with HIV, access to medication is personal…deeply personal. It means staying healthy, caring for family, working, and planning for the future. When access is threatened, discussion of program funding becomes a much more immediate question: Will my next prescription be available when I need it?

The AIDS Drug Assistance Program (ADAP) exists to help eligible people living with HIV/AIDS access treatment they otherwise could not afford. For those of us who depend on this assistance, or previously relied on it, qualifying should provide some reassurance. The return of ADAP waiting lists has brought back a fear that many longtime advocates remember. Qualifying for assistance does not bring peace of mind when the assistance itself is out of reach.

Source: NASTAD

After 13 years, people living with HIV/AIDS in two states are once again being denied access to care and treatment because ADAP is running out of money. According to the National Alliance of State and Territorial AIDS Directors’ ADAP Watch, Iowa and Utah have ADAP waiting lists.

These experiences are why patient voices must remain central to the response. People living with HIV understand what consistent treatment makes possible. Their knowledge can help lawmakers understand the consequences of funding decisions and recognize the need to act before people lose access to care.

A Renewed Campaign Built on Years of Advocacy

ADAP Advocacy’s 'ADAP Saves Lives: End the Wait' national advocacy campaign is moving full gear again. Created in 2009 in response to 99 clients on ADAP waiting lists, the campaign reactivated in June 2026. Its message remains unchanged: no one should be told to wait for lifesaving medication.

Over the last several months, much of the campaign’s work has happened behind the scenes. ADAP advocacy has been rebuilding grassroots networks across six key states while simultaneously reconnecting with advocates and strengthening the relationships needed to move people into action. That work takes conversations, follow-up, and trust. It also means making sure people living with HIV/AIDS help shape the response. It also means ADAP Advocacy offering help to advocates in these states, rather than trying to march in and dictate strategy.

Source: ADAP Advocacy

The 'End the Wait' campaign has also created opportunities for communities to come together and speak up. Pennsylvania is one of the six key states where the campaign is focused on protecting ADAP access as funding shortfalls force eligibility and drug formulary restrictions that threaten care. These cost containment strategies are the invisible waiting lists in this struggle. In Pittsburgh, ADAP Advocacy held a Community Town Hall Meeting and a subsequent Health Fireside Chat focused on these challenges and their impact on people who depend on ADAP. The campaign’s newest public service announcement brought those conversations to a wider audience with a clear message: access to lifesaving HIV medication must be protected. These efforts are helping turn public awareness into support for action.

Connecting Information with Action

As the 'End the Wait' campaign expands, a newly announced interactive AIDS Drug Assistance Program Grassroots Advocacy Hub gives advocates a central place to find information and coordinate their efforts. It brings state-focused updates and campaign materials together so patients and community partners can better understand the issues and share them with others. Resources include advocacy and social media toolkits, communication and calendar-sharing tools, and other resources that organizations and individuals can use with their networks. Having these materials in one place makes it easier to bring accurate information into community conversations and keep attention on the need for reliable access to treatment.

The AIDS Drug Assistance Program Grassroots Advocacy Hub features resource centers for Florida, Illinois, Iowa, Pennsylvania, Texas, and Utah, at least to start, helping advocates take the next step. The Congress lookup identifies Members of Congress, so people know which offices to contact, while the global calendar highlights upcoming events and opportunities to participate. These features connect learning about an issue with practical ways to act. The hub is available online at https://www.adapadvocacy.org/adap-saves-lives.

Building A Collective Demand for Treatment Access

ADAP Advocacy’s 'ADAP Saves Lives: End the Wait' national advocacy campaign focuses on convincing Congress to fully fund the AIDS Drug Assistance Program. To that end, a national sign-on letter calling for an additional $175 million is now being circulated for signatures!

Source: liveabout dot com

Protecting access to HIV treatment takes support from across the community. Housing providers, food assistance programs, mental health organizations, reproductive health advocates, disability rights groups, and faith communities serve many of the same people. By adding their names to the national letter, these organizations can join a collective call to protect ADAP’s across the country.

The letter, in part, reads:

"We are concerned that federal investment hasn’t kept pace with the program's changing fiscal demands. Even as more clients enroll and healthcare costs climb, federal funding for ADAPs has remained essentially flat since 2014. In inflation-adjusted terms, that erosion has reduced the federal investment's purchasing power to roughly the level it had in 1999. As a result, states are resorting to lowering income limits, restricting access to antiretroviral treatment options, and removing access to medications used to treat comorbid conditions, including diabetes, cardiovascular disease, and chronic kidney disease."

Click here to read the full letter.

Click this link to add an organization to the national sign-on letter. Signatures are limited to organizations, not individuals. Organizational signatories are being added on a rolling basis.

Individuals can use the patient resource center’s advocacy widget to contact their legislators and urge them to fully fund ADAP.

Bringing the Conversation to Texas

The campaign’s organizing efforts will continue with a virtual statewide Texas Community Town Hall Meeting on Wednesday, November 18, 2026, from 7:00 pm to 8:00 pm CENTRAL TIME. The meeting is open to the public and will focus on access-to-care and treatment challenges involving the Texas HIV Medication Program, the state’s ADAP.

Patients, providers, community organizations, families, and allies across Texas are encouraged to participate. Their experiences can help identify barriers, inform advocacy, and keep the needs of people living with HIV at the center of the discussion.

Source: ADAP Advocacy

Visit ADAP Advocacy's Events page to register: https://www.adapadvocacy.org/events/2026/townhall/texas.

Conclusion

The 'ADAP Saves Lives: End the Wait' national advocacy campaign, centered around patients and their lived experiences with ADAP, ensures that the voice of people living with HIV/AIDS shall always be at the table and the center of the discussion. HIV advocates have faced this uncertainty before, and they’ve always risen to the challenge. That is what needs to happen now! ADAP Advocacy is doing its part by building state grassroots efforts, making user-friendly advocacy resources and tools available, hosting community town hall meetings, spearheading an organizational national sign-on letter, and complementing the work already being done at the state and community levels.

ADAP SAVES LIVES… END THE WAIT!

Disclaimer: All funders of the ADAP Advocacy Association are publicly listed on our website. 

Disclaimer: Guest blogs do not necessarily reflect the views of the ADAP Advocacy Association; rather, they provide a neutral platform for the author to promote open, honest discussion of public health-related issues and updates.