Ryan White HIV/AIDS Program Funding Raided, Again

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

Over the summer the Trump Administration raided previously unspent Ryan White HIV/AIDS Program funding from Fiscal Years 2015-2016 to pay for its controversial "zero-tolerance" immigration policy. The ADAP Advocacy Association sounded the alarm not once, but actually two times over concern about the dangerous precedent established by transferring these funds. We warned if funding budgeted to provide supports and services to people living with HIV/AIDS could be diverted on one occasion, then what would prevent it from happening again? Unfortunately, our concerns were validated because more money is being taken away from these important programs to fund the immigration child detention centers on our southern borders.

Insert the phrase: "We were right!"

Photo Source: virginiainterfaithcenter.org

The Trump Administration, rather than asking how we can ensure these funds are better spent as they were intended...to help meet the needs of the people living with HIV/AIDS more readily...has decided the epidemic is of less a public health concern than putting kids in cages.

We applaud AIDS United once again for leading the charge and holding the Trump Administration accountable for this thievery! We encourage you to read their recent action alerts in The Body:

• Hands Off HIV Funding and Immigrant Children!
• From Safety Nets to Barbed Wire: Secretary Azar Takes Money From HIV Programs to Pay for Detention of Immigrant Children

Among other vital program funding being raided again, State AIDS Drug Assistance Programs ("ADAP") stand to lose $5.75 million in unspent funding from the current Fiscal Year. This isn't so-called "fake news" either. A letter to Congress from Alex M. Azar II, Secretary of the U.S. Department of Health & Human Services ("HHS"), spells it out in plain language.

Think about it; there was over $2.6 million taken from HIV prevention programs. Like we still don't have people at risk for contracting HIV, right?

Think about it; there was over $6.3 million taken from mental health and substance abuse programs. Like untreated mental illness isn't an ongoing issue, right? Or like there isn't an ongoing opioid epidemic, right?

Think about it; there was over one million dollars taken from viral hepatitis programs. Like we don't have an emerging Hepatitis C crisis, right?

The fact remains that the people living with HIV/AIDS who reply on ADAP — and who rely on other HIV-related programs being impacted by this move — are PISSED OFF! Let me repeat, they are PISSED OFF!

Whereas HIV-infection can now be characterized as a chronic illness, nearly 20,000 people annually receive an AIDS diagnosis.[1] And yes, people still die of AIDS in this country, including some who cannot access life-saving treatments. People living with HIV/AIDS are watching their brothers and sisters struggle to endure the challenges present with this illness, all while their government appears hell-bent on undermining the progress made under the previous four Presidents!

Photo Source: accidentallygay.com|

Putting aside the inhumane nature of these immigration child detention centers (if that is even remotely possible, mind you), there is plenty of evidence available for people living with HIV/AIDS to be concerned over ongoing raiding of the funding from the Ryan White HIV/AIDS Program. The Trump Administration is infested with right wing, religious ideologues who frown upon people who are different from their WASP (White Anglo-Saxon Protestant) culture. Such evidence was on full display this week.

The sad reality is starring our HIV community squarely in the face. The Trump Administration doesn't care about people living with HIV/AIDS. There are simply too many examples to site, too. And far worse, there is no reasoning with the right-wing, religious ideologues who are pulling the strings behind the scenes. It's hard for our people to be tactful when their being punched in the face by bigots.

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[1] U.S. Centers for Disease Control & Prevention (2018, August 6). HIV in the United States: At A Glance (AIDS Diagnoses). Retrieved from https://www.cdc.gov/hiv/statistics/overview/ataglance.html.

An Inherent Value in Advocacy Partnerships

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

As we've witnessed our national dialogue boil over into "us versus them" or "red versus blue" or "urban versus rural" or the even more egregious "you're either with us or you're against us", it is important to remember there is an inherent value in advocacy partnerships. It is even more important for the HIV advocacy community to continue to leverage broad partnerships, rather than retreat into corners. Adopting the latter approach would surely result in less potent national and state-level advocacy, fewer programmatic outcomes, and far less access to care and treatment for the patients who need it.

The ADAP Advocacy Association has long boasted in its tag line that it "works with advocates, community, health care, government, patients, pharmaceutical companies and other stakeholders." Yet, all too often, some question why one group or another is invited to sit our communal table. Unfortunately, it is happening more so in recent years. It is a troubling trend, no doubt.

Our organization's primary audience is the patient. One of our core value statements is that the voice of individuals living with HIV/AIDS shall always be at the table and the center of the discussion. All too often the patient voice is pushed aside, or not even included in important conversations because they're characterized as "bitching and moaning" rather than proposing solutions. But haven't patients earned that right, because after all they're the ones living with the damn disease? That said, such an narrow attitude under-estimates the valuable contributions made by patients every single day!

Likewise, state health department employees aren't the enemy. They are our partners and if state agencies are doing something counterintuitive to promoting greater access to care and treatment, then it is the advocacy community's and patient community's role to engage them. Joey Wynn, who serves as a board member to this organization, routinely engages state agencies in Florida...including when those same agencies are doing something the local advocacy community finds potentially harmful. Joey's approach has served people living with HIV/AIDS in South Florida rather well, too. In fact, I've personally witnessed the effectiveness behind his approach at a town hall meeting in Miami (as seen above when Joey invited me to speak), as well as his past leadership with the Florida HIV/AIDS Advocacy Network ("FHAAN").

Beating up on pharmaceutical companies is easy, and it most certainly is a popular thing to do. Yet, it is indeed possible to push back on the high cost of prescription drug prices while simultaneously working with these same partners to fight harmful public policy proposals, such as federal budget cuts, or the dangerous idea of drug importation.

Photo Source: Wikipedia

Nashville, Tennessee-based advocate and social media guru Josh Robbins is prime example! Josh has partnered with numerous private entities — such as medical diagnostic companies and pharmaceutical companies — and various public agencies — including health departments — to promote a litany of public health initiatives ranging from National HIV Testing Day, U=U, and access to PrEP. His groundbreaking work in Tennessee could not have been achieved operating from a silo.

Wanda Brendle-Moss, who also serves as a board member to this organization, recently reflected on her HIV advocacy journey. Wanda has demonstrated that collaboration is an effective advocacy tool in North Carolina, evidenced by her relationships with the North Carolina AIDS Action Network, North Carolina Harm Reduction Coalition ("NCHRC"), and the Rev. William Barber II's Moral Mondays (as seen in the photo above). Wanda would work with anyone who will answer her phone call, email, or text!

Speaking of North Carolina and NCHRC, under the leadership of the former executive director, Robert Childs, progressive harm reduction policies were adopted in a conservative state with an even more conservative General Assembly. Such legislative victories in the state included achieving syringe exchange programs, expanded Naloxone access, Good Samaritan protections, prescription drug monitoring programs, among other things. How? It was the advocacy partnerships developed by NCHRC, including with some VERY unlikely allies.

Nationally, efforts such as the ongoing U=U campaign ("Undetectable = Untransmittable") to reduce HIV-related stigma could not have happened without Bruce Richman's steady leadership. It isn't surprising that Bruce has assembled an extremely broad coalition of community partners, representing all stakeholder groups.

The most effective advocacy is rooted in advocacy partnerships, and not rivalries. With the current occupant residing at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue being so unfriendly to our community, such advocacy partnerships are even more important now!