FYI - World AIDS Day Mobilization request from ACTUP -- Gen. Circulation
Subj: World AIDS Day Mobilization request
Something terrible happened last week.
Condoleezza Rice met with some leading global AIDS activists. Doctor Rice made plain that President Bush is resistant to launching do anything of significance in time for the WH trip to Africa. President Bush is going to insist on underfunding the fight against global AIDS until disproven or underesourced programs have delivered the results they are unable to produce.
The childish banality of the Administration is would be laughable, if there were not 100 million lives hanging in the balance.
At the same time, the audit-assault on agencies serving communities of color, youth and gay men continues unabated. ADAP is still being starved,
and the Early Treatment Act for HIV gathers dust on the shelf.
If it was not already clear, simply asking the White House is not going to work. Why are you getting this message?
On Tuesday November 26, an extremely diverse angry crowd of at least 4-500 people with AIDS and their supporters are paying a visit to the Bush Administration in Washington DC. This is a two days before Thanksgiving, and timed so as not to conflict with other World AIDS Day remembrances.
The message will be similar to that delivered in Barcelona: a limited and specific number of crucial global and domestic AIDS issues.
Why are you getting this message?
Because the movement has stated for years a wish to reinvigorate a strong grassroots presence. Because asking nice is not working. Because the history of social movements in the United States demonstrate that the voices of advocates at the table are taken far more seriously if they are speaking in concert with a mobilized and aggressive constituency.
Because we need help.
A few of us have talked about raising the profile of the World AIDS Day action being currently coming together.
The dire urgency of our current situation and the Administration's intractable refusal to take leadership on AIDS requires us all to raise the
ante on the President. For this action to make more of a splash than our previous numerous actions, we are asking that the executive directors and staff of AIDS and global advocacy groups join us in an act of peaceful civil
disobedience.
We need help with media support. We need help with funding to help pay for busloads of demonstrators. We need help your help marshalling our notable supporters and senior staff to make a peaceful civil disobedience action as high profile as possible. This event will be safe for non-CD participants, with ample marshaling and legal support. Any CD participants will of course
be offered CD training. The precise nature of the CD scenario will be developed by the participants.
1. If your schedule and legal history permits, we want you to take part in a non-violent civil disobedience demanding presidential action on global and domestic AIDS treatment and prevention. As a rule, you will be released
within a few hours, with no legal ramification and no ensuing court cases. There are never any promises, of course.
2. We need you to help contact any notable people they you think might participate with us in this act of civil disobedience. Please help complete
the list below with your contacts.
3. We need your media staff to support this action. With help from your organization, we can make a powerful event that becomes _the_ national World AIDS Day story.
4. The cost of transporting 8-16 busloads of demonstrators to support the CD group from Philadelphia, New York and beyond will cost approximately $1200 / bus, plus other expenses that arise from a major mobilization. The largest
grassroots group in the sponsoring coalition currently has a significant debt to its members. In other words, ACT UP Philadelphia has _no_ money to pay for this.
5. TURN OUT: if your organization has staff or members or clients anywhere in the mid-Atlantic region BRING THEM OUT. As you know, politics is about power, and the power we have on our side is significant numbers of motivated people. As many have noted, the US AIDS movement has become atrophied from a lack of exercise. Its not difficult to mobilize large numbers of staff and
clients, if the organization provides transportation, and all staff are given extensive and explicit executive support. Clear messages from agency leadership are necessary to inspire the community to act. We must provide the vehicle through which people with AIDS can recognize personal capacity to powerfully influence political struggles. We must make clear to our staff and members our obligation to check the negligence of the government we bear responsibility for.
If you or your organization are able to help in any way with media, funding, turnout, or CD participants, please contact me:
pdavis@healthgap.org / 215.833.4102
Towards a reinvigorated movement,
Paul
Paul Davis
Health GAP
ACT UP Philadelphia
e: pdavis@healthgap.org
t: +1 215.833.4102 (mobile)
f: +1 215.474.4793
w: www.healthgap.org
Yours in the Struggle:
Oliver W. Martin III
Deputy Director
Conscious Contact of New York, Inc.
Website: www.ccofny.org
The LLEGÓ e-newsletter Al Tanto keeps our aliados, afiliados and other stake holders, about important information for HIV/AIDS intervention and prevention services. It also provides information about upcoming opportunities and
events.
In an effort to serve the people we work with better, we would like to hear from you about any suggestions you may have to improve this e-newsletter or what you would like to see included in it!
Prevention Counseling and the Client with HIV
Ongoing prevention counseling is an essential component of the management of persons with HIV infection. Each client encounter provides an opportunity to reinforce HIV prevention messages, and should document and assess:
1. The client's knowledge and understanding of the means of HIV transmission;
2. The client's HIV transmission behaviors since the last encounter with the
health care provider or counselor.
This encounter should be followed by a discussion of the strategies to prevent transmission that may be useful to the individual client. Partner
notification is an important component of HIV detection and prevention and should be pursued by the provider or by referral services.
Although the basic elements of HIV prevention messages have been unchanged since the introduction of Highly Active Antiretroviral Therapy (HAART), important observations regarding the impact of HAART upon transmission, and
individual risk behaviors have been noted. For example, low viral load that results from successful HIV therapy substantially reduces the likelihood of HIV transmission. Viral load tests measure the amount of HIV in the blood, but HIV is also present in semen and vaginal fluids, and the proportion of HIV in these fluids and the blood is not necessarily equal. Therefore, a very low or undetectable viral load measurement in the blood does not give a complete or true picture of total viral load in the body. So while HAART does substantially reduce the likelihood of HIV transmission, it is by no means a form of safer sex in itself and HIV positive individuals must be educated to use barrier protection while having vaginal or anal sex.
Similarly, mother to child HIV transmission was observed to decline in proportion to the maternal viral load at the time of delivery. However there
are exceptions, and mother to child transmission has been reported even in women with very low or "undetectable" viral loads. Therefore HIV
risk-reduction counseling remains an essential component of working with HIV positive women who may have unprotected sex because they wish to become pregnant and for those who are already receiving pre-natal care. For women of childbearing potential, the desire for pregnancy should be assessed at each encounter; women wishing to pursue pregnancy should be referred for
preconception counseling to reduce the risks of perinatal transmission and transmission to uninfected sexual partners. In women of childbearing age who wish to avoid pregnancy, condoms should be encouraged in addition to other
forms of contraception for prevention of HIV and STD transmissio!
Behavioral changes in HIV-infected individuals that impact prevention are an ironic consequence of successful treatment during this HAART era. An
association between knowledge of the benefits of HAART and relapse to high-risk activity is an undeniable fact of life among many HIV positive
individuals. For example, reports from urban gay communities in the U.S. clearly indicate rising rates of unsafe sexual practices with consequent
rising HIV seroprevalence rates. This trend has reached crisis proportions among gay youth and especially among minority gay youth. Powerful prevention messages that educate and re-educate while bringing supportive services and resources are essential if we are to avoid an uncontrollable epidemic both medically and financially. For example, to quote from a recent article (9/19/02) published in the Seattle Post-Intelligencer, ...
Drugs...cost as much as $12,000-$15,000 a year. The state's AIDS Prescription! Drug Program...is already in finanial trouble. In addition, poor adherence to HIV medication has been shown to be a predictor of poor adherence to HIV prevention strategies. More intensive adherence and
prevention counseling may be appropriate for Individuals who demonstrate repeated deficiencies in either area. Therefore, despite the strong
association between a reduced risk of HIV transmission and sustained low viral load, the message of HIV prevention should remain simple: Once infected, an HIV positive individual may transmit the virus at any time, and there is no
substitute for latex or polyurethane male or female condoms, other safer sexual behaviors (e.g., fewer partners, monogamy or abstinence), and cessation of any sharing of drug paraphernalia. Prevention counseling for clients
known to have HIV infection, including easy access to condoms and other means of prevention, remains a critical component of HIV primary care.
Counselors may wish to directly address the risks of using viral load outcomes with their patients as a factor in considering high-risk behavior.
HIV-infected persons who use injection drugs should receive counseling on risks associated with sharing needles and paraphernalia and encouraged to enroll in drug rehabilitation programs. It must also be noted that the most
effective and successful prevention messages are those tailored to the individual. These messages are culturally appropriate, practical, and relevant to the person's knowledge, background, beliefs and behaviors. The message, the manner of delivery, and the cultural context may vary greatly depending upon the client.
Epidemiological Profile
HIV Prevalence Among Latino YMSM
A study conducted from 1994 to 1998 on 3,942 15-22 year old YMSM in 7 different cities found the following :
-The overall HIV prevalence rate for YMSM in this survey was 7.2% -Black, Latino, and Mixed-Race men were more likely to test HIV positive
..3.3% of white men tested positive, while 6.9% of Latino YMSM had contracted HIV.. the subgroup men of mixed race," who tested positive at a rate of 12.6%, is likely to include many Latinos.
Related Risk Factors
-The prevalence of unprotected anal sex (receptive and insertive) was 41%
-Latinos were more likely to get regularly or semi-regularly tested for HIV than every other group except Whites
-Gay-identified Latino MSM living in poverty and subjected to racism and homophobia are more likely to engage in high-risk sexual behavior and have higher rates of HIV
Interestingly, this study found that those YMSM who get tested for HIV regularly are more likely to contract HIV; those who test more frequently also tend to more regularly engage in unprotected sex. These findings seem to be primarily indicative of several possibilities: First, it seems to indicate that people who get tested more often feel that they need to get tested more
often, that they are more likely to engage in risky behavior than those who get tested infrequently or not at all. Second, it seems to point to the ineffectiveness of post-test counseling, in getting people not to engage in
highly risky behavior.
Lastly, despite that youth account for half of all new HIV cases in the United States, less than a quarter of all HIV prevention programs are designed or funded to address the needs of those youth who need it most, namely youth of color, homeless and runaway youth, recent immigrants, and YMSM.
For more information about LLEGO visit our Website at:
http://www.llego.org
events.
In an effort to serve the people we work with better, we would like to hear from you about any suggestions you may have to improve this e-newsletter or what you would like to see included in it!
Prevention Counseling and the Client with HIV
Ongoing prevention counseling is an essential component of the management of persons with HIV infection. Each client encounter provides an opportunity to reinforce HIV prevention messages, and should document and assess:
1. The client's knowledge and understanding of the means of HIV transmission;
2. The client's HIV transmission behaviors since the last encounter with the
health care provider or counselor.
This encounter should be followed by a discussion of the strategies to prevent transmission that may be useful to the individual client. Partner
notification is an important component of HIV detection and prevention and should be pursued by the provider or by referral services.
Although the basic elements of HIV prevention messages have been unchanged since the introduction of Highly Active Antiretroviral Therapy (HAART), important observations regarding the impact of HAART upon transmission, and
individual risk behaviors have been noted. For example, low viral load that results from successful HIV therapy substantially reduces the likelihood of HIV transmission. Viral load tests measure the amount of HIV in the blood, but HIV is also present in semen and vaginal fluids, and the proportion of HIV in these fluids and the blood is not necessarily equal. Therefore, a very low or undetectable viral load measurement in the blood does not give a complete or true picture of total viral load in the body. So while HAART does substantially reduce the likelihood of HIV transmission, it is by no means a form of safer sex in itself and HIV positive individuals must be educated to use barrier protection while having vaginal or anal sex.
Similarly, mother to child HIV transmission was observed to decline in proportion to the maternal viral load at the time of delivery. However there
are exceptions, and mother to child transmission has been reported even in women with very low or "undetectable" viral loads. Therefore HIV
risk-reduction counseling remains an essential component of working with HIV positive women who may have unprotected sex because they wish to become pregnant and for those who are already receiving pre-natal care. For women of childbearing potential, the desire for pregnancy should be assessed at each encounter; women wishing to pursue pregnancy should be referred for
preconception counseling to reduce the risks of perinatal transmission and transmission to uninfected sexual partners. In women of childbearing age who wish to avoid pregnancy, condoms should be encouraged in addition to other
forms of contraception for prevention of HIV and STD transmissio!
Behavioral changes in HIV-infected individuals that impact prevention are an ironic consequence of successful treatment during this HAART era. An
association between knowledge of the benefits of HAART and relapse to high-risk activity is an undeniable fact of life among many HIV positive
individuals. For example, reports from urban gay communities in the U.S. clearly indicate rising rates of unsafe sexual practices with consequent
rising HIV seroprevalence rates. This trend has reached crisis proportions among gay youth and especially among minority gay youth. Powerful prevention messages that educate and re-educate while bringing supportive services and resources are essential if we are to avoid an uncontrollable epidemic both medically and financially. For example, to quote from a recent article (9/19/02) published in the Seattle Post-Intelligencer, ...
Drugs...cost as much as $12,000-$15,000 a year. The state's AIDS Prescription! Drug Program...is already in finanial trouble. In addition, poor adherence to HIV medication has been shown to be a predictor of poor adherence to HIV prevention strategies. More intensive adherence and
prevention counseling may be appropriate for Individuals who demonstrate repeated deficiencies in either area. Therefore, despite the strong
association between a reduced risk of HIV transmission and sustained low viral load, the message of HIV prevention should remain simple: Once infected, an HIV positive individual may transmit the virus at any time, and there is no
substitute for latex or polyurethane male or female condoms, other safer sexual behaviors (e.g., fewer partners, monogamy or abstinence), and cessation of any sharing of drug paraphernalia. Prevention counseling for clients
known to have HIV infection, including easy access to condoms and other means of prevention, remains a critical component of HIV primary care.
Counselors may wish to directly address the risks of using viral load outcomes with their patients as a factor in considering high-risk behavior.
HIV-infected persons who use injection drugs should receive counseling on risks associated with sharing needles and paraphernalia and encouraged to enroll in drug rehabilitation programs. It must also be noted that the most
effective and successful prevention messages are those tailored to the individual. These messages are culturally appropriate, practical, and relevant to the person's knowledge, background, beliefs and behaviors. The message, the manner of delivery, and the cultural context may vary greatly depending upon the client.
Epidemiological Profile
HIV Prevalence Among Latino YMSM
A study conducted from 1994 to 1998 on 3,942 15-22 year old YMSM in 7 different cities found the following :
-The overall HIV prevalence rate for YMSM in this survey was 7.2% -Black, Latino, and Mixed-Race men were more likely to test HIV positive
..3.3% of white men tested positive, while 6.9% of Latino YMSM had contracted HIV.. the subgroup men of mixed race," who tested positive at a rate of 12.6%, is likely to include many Latinos.
Related Risk Factors
-The prevalence of unprotected anal sex (receptive and insertive) was 41%
-Latinos were more likely to get regularly or semi-regularly tested for HIV than every other group except Whites
-Gay-identified Latino MSM living in poverty and subjected to racism and homophobia are more likely to engage in high-risk sexual behavior and have higher rates of HIV
Interestingly, this study found that those YMSM who get tested for HIV regularly are more likely to contract HIV; those who test more frequently also tend to more regularly engage in unprotected sex. These findings seem to be primarily indicative of several possibilities: First, it seems to indicate that people who get tested more often feel that they need to get tested more
often, that they are more likely to engage in risky behavior than those who get tested infrequently or not at all. Second, it seems to point to the ineffectiveness of post-test counseling, in getting people not to engage in
highly risky behavior.
Lastly, despite that youth account for half of all new HIV cases in the United States, less than a quarter of all HIV prevention programs are designed or funded to address the needs of those youth who need it most, namely youth of color, homeless and runaway youth, recent immigrants, and YMSM.
For more information about LLEGO visit our Website at:
http://www.llego.org
FYI - World
AIDS Day Mobilization request from ACTUP
Subj: World AIDS Day Mobilization request
Something terrible happened last week.
Condoleezza Rice met with some leading global AIDS activists. Doctor Rice made plain that
President Bush is resistant to launching do anything of significance in time for the WH trip to Africa. President Bush is going to insist on underfunding the ight against global AIDS until disproven or underesourced programs have
delivered the results they are unable to produce. The childish banality of the Administration is would be laughable, if there were not 100 million lives hanging in the balance.
At the same time, the audit-assault on agencies
serving communities of color, youth and gay men continues unabated. ADAP is still being starved,
and the Early Treatment Act for HIV gathers dust on the shelf.
If it was not already clear, simply asking the White House is not going to work. Why are you getting this message?
On Tuesday November 26, an extremely diverse angry crowd of at least 4-500 people with AIDS and their supporters are paying a visit to the Bush Administration in Washington DC. This is a two days before Thanksgiving, and timed so as not to conflict with other World AIDS Day remembrances.
The message will be similar to that delivered in Barcelona: a limited and specific number of crucial global and domestic AIDS issues.
Why are you getting this message?
Because the movement has stated for years a wish to reinvigorate a strong grassroots presence. Because asking nice is not working. Because the
history of social movements in the United States demonstrate that the voices of advocates at the table are taken far more seriously if they are speaking in concert with a mobilized and aggressive constituency.
Because we need help.
A few of us have talked about raising the profile of the World AIDS Day action being currently coming together.
The dire urgency of our current situation and the Administration's intractable refusal to take leadership on AIDS requires us all to raise the
ante on the President. For this action to make more of a splash than our previous numerous actions, we are asking that the executive directors and staff of AIDS and global advocacy groups join us in an act of peaceful civil
disobedience.
We need help with media support. We need help with funding to help pay for busloads of demonstrators. We need help your help
marshalling our notable supporters and senior staff to make a peaceful civil disobedience action as high profile as possible. This event will be safe for non-CD participants,
with ample marshaling and legal support. Any CD
participants will of course be offered CD training. The precise nature of the CD scenario will be developed by the participants.
1. If your schedule and legal history permits, we want you to take part in a non-violent civil disobedience demanding presidential action on global and domestic AIDS treatment and prevention. As a rule, you will be released
within a few hours, with no legal ramification and no ensuing court cases.
There are never any promises, of course.
2. We need you to help contact any notable people they you think might participate with us in this
act of civil disobedience. Please help complete
the list below with your contacts.
3. We need your media staff to support this action. With help from your organization, we can make a powerful event that becomes _the_
national World AIDS Day story.
4. The cost of transporting 8-16 busloads of demonstrators to support the CD group from Philadelphia, New York and beyond will cost approximately $1200 / bus, plus other expenses
that arise from a major mobilization. The largest
grassroots group in the sponsoring coalition currently has a significant debt to its members. In other words, ACT UP Philadelphia has _no_ money to pay for this.
5. TURN OUT: if your organization has staff or members or clients anywhere in the mid-Atlantic region BRING THEM OUT. As you know, politics is about power, and the power we have on our side is significant numbers of motivated people. As many have noted, the US AIDS movement has become atrophied from a lack of exercise. Its not ifficult to mobilize large numbers of staff and
clients, if the organization provides transportation, and all staff are given extensive and explicit executive support. Clear messages from agency leadership are necessary to inspire the community to act. We must provide the vehicle through which people with AIDS can recognize personal capacity to powerfully influence political struggles. We must make clear to our staff and members our obligation to check the negligence of the government we bear responsibility for.
If you or your organization are able to help in
any way with media, funding, turnout, or CD participants, please contact me:
pdavis@healthgap.org / 215.833.4102
Towards a reinvigorated movement,
Paul
Paul Davis
Health GAP
ACT UP Philadelphia
e: pdavis@healthgap.org
t: +1 215.833.4102 (mobile)
f: +1
215.474.4793
w: www.healthgap.org
AIDS Day Mobilization request from ACTUP
Subj: World AIDS Day Mobilization request
Something terrible happened last week.
Condoleezza Rice met with some leading global AIDS activists. Doctor Rice made plain that
President Bush is resistant to launching do anything of significance in time for the WH trip to Africa. President Bush is going to insist on underfunding the ight against global AIDS until disproven or underesourced programs have
delivered the results they are unable to produce. The childish banality of the Administration is would be laughable, if there were not 100 million lives hanging in the balance.
At the same time, the audit-assault on agencies
serving communities of color, youth and gay men continues unabated. ADAP is still being starved,
and the Early Treatment Act for HIV gathers dust on the shelf.
If it was not already clear, simply asking the White House is not going to work. Why are you getting this message?
On Tuesday November 26, an extremely diverse angry crowd of at least 4-500 people with AIDS and their supporters are paying a visit to the Bush Administration in Washington DC. This is a two days before Thanksgiving, and timed so as not to conflict with other World AIDS Day remembrances.
The message will be similar to that delivered in Barcelona: a limited and specific number of crucial global and domestic AIDS issues.
Why are you getting this message?
Because the movement has stated for years a wish to reinvigorate a strong grassroots presence. Because asking nice is not working. Because the
history of social movements in the United States demonstrate that the voices of advocates at the table are taken far more seriously if they are speaking in concert with a mobilized and aggressive constituency.
Because we need help.
A few of us have talked about raising the profile of the World AIDS Day action being currently coming together.
The dire urgency of our current situation and the Administration's intractable refusal to take leadership on AIDS requires us all to raise the
ante on the President. For this action to make more of a splash than our previous numerous actions, we are asking that the executive directors and staff of AIDS and global advocacy groups join us in an act of peaceful civil
disobedience.
We need help with media support. We need help with funding to help pay for busloads of demonstrators. We need help your help
marshalling our notable supporters and senior staff to make a peaceful civil disobedience action as high profile as possible. This event will be safe for non-CD participants,
with ample marshaling and legal support. Any CD
participants will of course be offered CD training. The precise nature of the CD scenario will be developed by the participants.
1. If your schedule and legal history permits, we want you to take part in a non-violent civil disobedience demanding presidential action on global and domestic AIDS treatment and prevention. As a rule, you will be released
within a few hours, with no legal ramification and no ensuing court cases.
There are never any promises, of course.
2. We need you to help contact any notable people they you think might participate with us in this
act of civil disobedience. Please help complete
the list below with your contacts.
3. We need your media staff to support this action. With help from your organization, we can make a powerful event that becomes _the_
national World AIDS Day story.
4. The cost of transporting 8-16 busloads of demonstrators to support the CD group from Philadelphia, New York and beyond will cost approximately $1200 / bus, plus other expenses
that arise from a major mobilization. The largest
grassroots group in the sponsoring coalition currently has a significant debt to its members. In other words, ACT UP Philadelphia has _no_ money to pay for this.
5. TURN OUT: if your organization has staff or members or clients anywhere in the mid-Atlantic region BRING THEM OUT. As you know, politics is about power, and the power we have on our side is significant numbers of motivated people. As many have noted, the US AIDS movement has become atrophied from a lack of exercise. Its not ifficult to mobilize large numbers of staff and
clients, if the organization provides transportation, and all staff are given extensive and explicit executive support. Clear messages from agency leadership are necessary to inspire the community to act. We must provide the vehicle through which people with AIDS can recognize personal capacity to powerfully influence political struggles. We must make clear to our staff and members our obligation to check the negligence of the government we bear responsibility for.
If you or your organization are able to help in
any way with media, funding, turnout, or CD participants, please contact me:
pdavis@healthgap.org / 215.833.4102
Towards a reinvigorated movement,
Paul
Paul Davis
Health GAP
ACT UP Philadelphia
e: pdavis@healthgap.org
t: +1 215.833.4102 (mobile)
f: +1
215.474.4793
w: www.healthgap.org
Are you HIV-positive?:
Do you have what most would consider
"comprehensive health insurance coverage"? But do you still find the costs of HIV/AIDS treatment is breaking your bank?
POZ magazine, a national magazine about HIV/AIDS, needs your input for an article on the rising costs of health care for people with HIV/AIDS in America. The piece will focus on the contradiction of the HIV-positive American who has what most consider to be solid health insurance, but who still faces the financial burden of rising premiums, hidden fees, copays, uncovered procedures and the like.
For instance: your monthly copays just for medications might be as much as $150, especially if you are being treated for another chronic condition, like depression. How does this affect your ability to pay the bills? Further, insurance premiums and copays levels are on the
rise: are you worried about maintaining your insurance at your current income level? Do you find yourself staying at a job you don't like just for the insurance?
If you have insurance from a major carrier--Aetna, Oxford, etc.--or an employer-sponsored plan, we want to hear from you about
your experiences navigating the insurance maze in the face of a lagging economy, and an increasingly expensive health care system. We want to know how much you spend on health care, and in what ways your insurance either falls short of complete coverage, or is so expensive in and of itself as to cut into your total income. Do you eat out less? Avoid that vacation? And
how do you try and cut medical costs--what tricks have you discovered?
Ideally, we would like to use your full name, and be able to have a clear run-down of your financial profile: your yearly income; certain normal monthly expenses, like rent/mortgage, food, nights out or car payments; and your insurance expenditures. And if you are willing, we may also like to publish a photograph of you.
Please email me a brief note about how you fit
into this story, with your phone number and the best time to reach you, so I can contact you for an interview. I would like to hear from you by Friday, November 8th, though into the next week would work as well.
Thanks so much for your help. If you know of
anyone else who might have something to say on this matter, please forward them this email. (Note: if you send to more than one person at a time, remember to blind copy (bcc:) the addresses to protect others' confidentiality.)
All the best,
Benjamin Ryan
Contributing Writer
POZ magazine
benjaminryan@nyc.rr.com
Do you have what most would consider
"comprehensive health insurance coverage"? But do you still find the costs of HIV/AIDS treatment is breaking your bank?
POZ magazine, a national magazine about HIV/AIDS, needs your input for an article on the rising costs of health care for people with HIV/AIDS in America. The piece will focus on the contradiction of the HIV-positive American who has what most consider to be solid health insurance, but who still faces the financial burden of rising premiums, hidden fees, copays, uncovered procedures and the like.
For instance: your monthly copays just for medications might be as much as $150, especially if you are being treated for another chronic condition, like depression. How does this affect your ability to pay the bills? Further, insurance premiums and copays levels are on the
rise: are you worried about maintaining your insurance at your current income level? Do you find yourself staying at a job you don't like just for the insurance?
If you have insurance from a major carrier--Aetna, Oxford, etc.--or an employer-sponsored plan, we want to hear from you about
your experiences navigating the insurance maze in the face of a lagging economy, and an increasingly expensive health care system. We want to know how much you spend on health care, and in what ways your insurance either falls short of complete coverage, or is so expensive in and of itself as to cut into your total income. Do you eat out less? Avoid that vacation? And
how do you try and cut medical costs--what tricks have you discovered?
Ideally, we would like to use your full name, and be able to have a clear run-down of your financial profile: your yearly income; certain normal monthly expenses, like rent/mortgage, food, nights out or car payments; and your insurance expenditures. And if you are willing, we may also like to publish a photograph of you.
Please email me a brief note about how you fit
into this story, with your phone number and the best time to reach you, so I can contact you for an interview. I would like to hear from you by Friday, November 8th, though into the next week would work as well.
Thanks so much for your help. If you know of
anyone else who might have something to say on this matter, please forward them this email. (Note: if you send to more than one person at a time, remember to blind copy (bcc:) the addresses to protect others' confidentiality.)
All the best,
Benjamin Ryan
Contributing Writer
POZ magazine
benjaminryan@nyc.rr.com
Well, its not quite the New York Times but Sharon Ann Lynch and Eustacia Smith made the front cover of the Carroll Gardens/ Cobble Hill Courier with a
caption "Where's Tommy Thompson?" and a full story on the demo...
This Thursday, members of Housing Works and ACT UP NYC zapped Bush administration officials visiting NYC. Health of Human Services
Secretary Tommy Thompson was supposed to be there but failed to attend. Having been shouted down by international activists, including members of ACT UP NYC in Barcelona this summer, Thomson declined at the last minute. The aim of the protest was to SLAM 'day of the dead' federal AIDS policies.
Activists specifically targeted four areas. As HHS Secretary Thompson has:
1) audited, harassed, and defunded sex positive, non abstinence based HIV prevention programs
2) continued the deadly ban on syringe exchange programs
3) audited, harassed, and defunded minority run, community based AIDS programs in the hardest hit communities
4) singled out HIV/AIDS prevention programs that criticized him in Barcelona
"Money for AIDS, not for War!!!!!!" we chanted as we disrupted the speech of Thompson's under secretary. The room stood up to applaud.
Members of the room were perfectly aware that if the administration spent 2% of what it is planning to spend on its war against Iraq on the
global AIDS fund, it could save lives around the globe. The following is a report on the event from City Limits Weekly November 4, 2002. - bs
TRICK OR TREAT?
Federal health officials came to Brooklyn Thursday to urge more than a thousand local health care providers to apply for federal grants to bolster their work-even though most of the programs that fund work like HIV and AIDS treatment aren't slated to grow, or will even be cut, in the coming year.
"It's important to me-and to the President and the Secretary-that each of you is able to access our funding," Health and Human Services regional director Deborah Konopko told the nonprofit and government professionals who attended the conference, titled "Accessing Resources for Your Community," at the Brooklyn Marriott.
But just an hour later, in a smaller session on funding for groups who work with the homeless, a junior HHS official was much more honest about
funding prospects. Congress and the White House have yet to agree on a 2003 budget, even though the fiscal year started one month ago, noted
Larry Rickards of the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration. "We still don't have any idea how much money we have to
work with," Rickards said. "It's hamstrung us. And it's interfering with all these efforts."
In February, President Bush proposed an HHS budget of $471 billion, a slight increase from the previous year's $463 billion. Most of that
increase is for fighting biological or chemical terrorist attacks. In most other areas, the budget proposals are the same as last year's
For example, the Bush budget calls for $1.9 billion in Ryan White CARE Act funding, which helps pay for care and treatment for uninsured people living with HIV and AIDS-the same as fiscal year 2002. Advocacy groups argue that with both health care costs and the number of AIDS cases rising-there was an 8 percent jump in new cases nationally last year-maintaining funding actually amounts to a cut. The National Minority AIDS Council estimates that if Bush's proposal passes, 16,000 people who currently receive care will lose it.
Secretary Tommy Thompson was supposed to attend Thursday's gathering, but he cancelled at the last minute. That didn't dissuade several dozen
protestors, who interrupted Thompson's replacement as soon as he began speaking.
"Where's Tommy Thompson?" shouted activists with Housing Works and ACT UP, blowing whistles and reciting a series of complaints about Bush administration policies, like its ban on federal funding for needle exchange programs and the shift to emphasizing abstinence in federal HIV
and AIDS education programs for young people.
The activists were disappointed they couldn't deliver their message directly to Thompson, but they were pleasantly surprised by the response
from the conference participants, some of whom applauded. "We were very pleased the crowd was with us," said Nuris Rodriguez of Housing Works.
"We thought they'd be ready to kill us."
Actually, some were ready to blow their own whistles. "I wanted to join them!" said Anindita Chatterjee Bhaumik of Sanctuary for Families, a
group that advocates for victims of domestic violence. "I think the whole day was about a political agenda. They will just do what they want
anyway. What was the point?"
-Matt Pacenza
matt@citylimits.org
ACTUPNY_Actions@topica.com
healthgap@CritPath.Org,"ACTUPNY_Actions@topica.com
caption "Where's Tommy Thompson?" and a full story on the demo...
This Thursday, members of Housing Works and ACT UP NYC zapped Bush administration officials visiting NYC. Health of Human Services
Secretary Tommy Thompson was supposed to be there but failed to attend. Having been shouted down by international activists, including members of ACT UP NYC in Barcelona this summer, Thomson declined at the last minute. The aim of the protest was to SLAM 'day of the dead' federal AIDS policies.
Activists specifically targeted four areas. As HHS Secretary Thompson has:
1) audited, harassed, and defunded sex positive, non abstinence based HIV prevention programs
2) continued the deadly ban on syringe exchange programs
3) audited, harassed, and defunded minority run, community based AIDS programs in the hardest hit communities
4) singled out HIV/AIDS prevention programs that criticized him in Barcelona
"Money for AIDS, not for War!!!!!!" we chanted as we disrupted the speech of Thompson's under secretary. The room stood up to applaud.
Members of the room were perfectly aware that if the administration spent 2% of what it is planning to spend on its war against Iraq on the
global AIDS fund, it could save lives around the globe. The following is a report on the event from City Limits Weekly November 4, 2002. - bs
TRICK OR TREAT?
Federal health officials came to Brooklyn Thursday to urge more than a thousand local health care providers to apply for federal grants to bolster their work-even though most of the programs that fund work like HIV and AIDS treatment aren't slated to grow, or will even be cut, in the coming year.
"It's important to me-and to the President and the Secretary-that each of you is able to access our funding," Health and Human Services regional director Deborah Konopko told the nonprofit and government professionals who attended the conference, titled "Accessing Resources for Your Community," at the Brooklyn Marriott.
But just an hour later, in a smaller session on funding for groups who work with the homeless, a junior HHS official was much more honest about
funding prospects. Congress and the White House have yet to agree on a 2003 budget, even though the fiscal year started one month ago, noted
Larry Rickards of the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration. "We still don't have any idea how much money we have to
work with," Rickards said. "It's hamstrung us. And it's interfering with all these efforts."
In February, President Bush proposed an HHS budget of $471 billion, a slight increase from the previous year's $463 billion. Most of that
increase is for fighting biological or chemical terrorist attacks. In most other areas, the budget proposals are the same as last year's
For example, the Bush budget calls for $1.9 billion in Ryan White CARE Act funding, which helps pay for care and treatment for uninsured people living with HIV and AIDS-the same as fiscal year 2002. Advocacy groups argue that with both health care costs and the number of AIDS cases rising-there was an 8 percent jump in new cases nationally last year-maintaining funding actually amounts to a cut. The National Minority AIDS Council estimates that if Bush's proposal passes, 16,000 people who currently receive care will lose it.
Secretary Tommy Thompson was supposed to attend Thursday's gathering, but he cancelled at the last minute. That didn't dissuade several dozen
protestors, who interrupted Thompson's replacement as soon as he began speaking.
"Where's Tommy Thompson?" shouted activists with Housing Works and ACT UP, blowing whistles and reciting a series of complaints about Bush administration policies, like its ban on federal funding for needle exchange programs and the shift to emphasizing abstinence in federal HIV
and AIDS education programs for young people.
The activists were disappointed they couldn't deliver their message directly to Thompson, but they were pleasantly surprised by the response
from the conference participants, some of whom applauded. "We were very pleased the crowd was with us," said Nuris Rodriguez of Housing Works.
"We thought they'd be ready to kill us."
Actually, some were ready to blow their own whistles. "I wanted to join them!" said Anindita Chatterjee Bhaumik of Sanctuary for Families, a
group that advocates for victims of domestic violence. "I think the whole day was about a political agenda. They will just do what they want
anyway. What was the point?"
-Matt Pacenza
matt@citylimits.org
ACTUPNY_Actions@topica.com
healthgap@CritPath.Org,"ACTUPNY_Actions@topica.com
Housing Works will host the ninth annual 24-hour commemoration of World AIDS Day on Sunday December 1st, 2002. The day will include a 24-hour "Reading of the Names" Vigil, press conferences, and AIDS education and awareness
events throughout the day. We hope you will join us for this opportunity to unite the many organizations and individuals who are fighting the AIDS epidemic.
For the second consecutive year, World AIDS Day will take place on the Plaza of the Harlem State Office Building, located at 163 West 125th Street at Adam Clayton Powell, Jr. Boulevard.
Our World AIDS Day Commemoration pays homage to the people that we have known and lost to AIDS. It is intended to bring attention to devastating
impact of AIDS across the city, state, nation and the world. New York State has the largest numbers of men, women and children living with HIV and AIDS in the nation. People of color -- Blacks, Latinos/as, Asian Pacific Islanders and Native Americans  have made up the majority of the epidemic in New York since 1983. People of color now make up 31% of the general population of New York State and 81% of people living with AIDS. In New York City, 89% of all female adults living with AIDS are women of color, and men of color make up 75% of all male adults living with AIDS.
If you or members of your organizations would like to participate by reading names, please call Jody Rudin, Housing Works' New York City Issues Organizer at:
212-966-0466, ext. 1165
and she will give you a block of time that can
accommodate you and your organization's schedule. In addition, if you or your organization would like to set up tables with HIV/AIDS materials in the plaza of the Harlem State Office Building, also call Jody to book a space.
events throughout the day. We hope you will join us for this opportunity to unite the many organizations and individuals who are fighting the AIDS epidemic.
For the second consecutive year, World AIDS Day will take place on the Plaza of the Harlem State Office Building, located at 163 West 125th Street at Adam Clayton Powell, Jr. Boulevard.
Our World AIDS Day Commemoration pays homage to the people that we have known and lost to AIDS. It is intended to bring attention to devastating
impact of AIDS across the city, state, nation and the world. New York State has the largest numbers of men, women and children living with HIV and AIDS in the nation. People of color -- Blacks, Latinos/as, Asian Pacific Islanders and Native Americans  have made up the majority of the epidemic in New York since 1983. People of color now make up 31% of the general population of New York State and 81% of people living with AIDS. In New York City, 89% of all female adults living with AIDS are women of color, and men of color make up 75% of all male adults living with AIDS.
If you or members of your organizations would like to participate by reading names, please call Jody Rudin, Housing Works' New York City Issues Organizer at:
212-966-0466, ext. 1165
and she will give you a block of time that can
accommodate you and your organization's schedule. In addition, if you or your organization would like to set up tables with HIV/AIDS materials in the plaza of the Harlem State Office Building, also call Jody to book a space.
Tues. Nov. 26
1-3:30 pm
NYC PWA Advisory Committee for the New York City Prevention Planning Unit will
meet on
40 Worth Street
16th Floor Conference Room
Snack/ Lunch and Transportation - Token Reimbursement included
For all information contact:
Yevgeniy Berger
HIV Prevention Planning Unit
DOHMH
(212) 788-4180
This meeting is for People living with HIV/AIDS New York City
Yours in the Struggle:
Oliver W. Martin III
Deputy Director
Conscious Contact of New York, Inc.
Website: www.ccofny.org
1-3:30 pm
NYC PWA Advisory Committee for the New York City Prevention Planning Unit will
meet on
40 Worth Street
16th Floor Conference Room
Snack/ Lunch and Transportation - Token Reimbursement included
For all information contact:
Yevgeniy Berger
HIV Prevention Planning Unit
DOHMH
(212) 788-4180
This meeting is for People living with HIV/AIDS New York City
Yours in the Struggle:
Oliver W. Martin III
Deputy Director
Conscious Contact of New York, Inc.
Website: www.ccofny.org
May 29th - June 1 2003
Boston College Graduate Schol\ol of Social Work Presents:
Call for Presentation Proposals
Abstracts due by December 18, 2002
HIV/AIDS 2003: The Social Work Response
The fifteenth Annual National Conference on Social Work and HIV/AIDS
Hyatt Regency Hotel
Albuquerque, NM
Theme:
HIV/AIDS and Families
Dates:
Thursday, May 28 - Sunday, June 1, 2003
Keynote Speakers:
Mildred Williamson, PH.D.
Woodlawn Heath Center
Chicago, IL
David Harvey, MSW
AIDS Alliance for Children, Youth and Families
Washington, DC
Topic: Community Building and AIDS Care for Children, Youth and Families:
Empowerment Works
For all conference information, fees, abstract deadlines etc contact
Dr. Vincent J. Lynch
Conference Chair
Boston College Graduate School of Social Work
140 Commonwealth Avenue, McGuinn Hall 305
Chestnut Hill, MA 02467
Conference Chair at (617) 552-4028 or via email at
lynchv@bc.edu
You may email the Assistant to the Conference Chair at:
andertje@bc.edu
Yours in the Struggle:
Oliver W. Martin III
Deputy Director
Conscious Contact of New York, Inc.
Website: www.ccofny.org
Boston College Graduate Schol\ol of Social Work Presents:
Call for Presentation Proposals
Abstracts due by December 18, 2002
HIV/AIDS 2003: The Social Work Response
The fifteenth Annual National Conference on Social Work and HIV/AIDS
Hyatt Regency Hotel
Albuquerque, NM
Theme:
HIV/AIDS and Families
Dates:
Thursday, May 28 - Sunday, June 1, 2003
Keynote Speakers:
Mildred Williamson, PH.D.
Woodlawn Heath Center
Chicago, IL
David Harvey, MSW
AIDS Alliance for Children, Youth and Families
Washington, DC
Topic: Community Building and AIDS Care for Children, Youth and Families:
Empowerment Works
For all conference information, fees, abstract deadlines etc contact
Dr. Vincent J. Lynch
Conference Chair
Boston College Graduate School of Social Work
140 Commonwealth Avenue, McGuinn Hall 305
Chestnut Hill, MA 02467
Conference Chair at (617) 552-4028 or via email at
lynchv@bc.edu
You may email the Assistant to the Conference Chair at:
andertje@bc.edu
Yours in the Struggle:
Oliver W. Martin III
Deputy Director
Conscious Contact of New York, Inc.
Website: www.ccofny.org
New Meeting Location!!
Alliance for Inmates with AIDS
General Membership Meeting
Wednesday, November 20th, 2002
@
GMHC
119 w. 24th Street
Room 405/410
(Between 6th & 7th Aves.)
New York City
2:30 – 5:00
AGENDA
§ Introductions
§ Legislative Updates;
Alliance for Inmates with AIDS
General Membership Meeting
Wednesday, November 20th, 2002
@
GMHC
119 w. 24th Street
Room 405/410
(Between 6th & 7th Aves.)
New York City
2:30 – 5:00
AGENDA
§ Introductions
§ Legislative Updates;
TUESDAY NOVEMBER 26 * WASHINGTON DC
MOBILIZATION TO FIGHT AIDS IN THE U.S. AND WORLDWIDE
Last week, senior White House officials, in a meeting with AIDS activists, made it plain that President Bush is going to insist on underfunding the fight against global AIDS until disproven or
underesourced programs have delivered the results they are unable to produce. The childish banality of the Administration is would be laughable, if there were not 100 million lives hanging in the balance.
At the same time, the Bush administration assualts AIDS organizations serving communities of color, youth and gay men with vicious audits
and intimidation tactics. Federal AIDS drug programs continue to be starved by the Bush Administration, and the Early Treatment Act for
HIV gathers dust on the shelf, requiring people with AIDS in the United States to spend themselves into poverty or wait until they are
very sick to qualify for health care and medicine.
*** If it was not already abundantly clear, simply asking the White House is not going to work. We must join to our voices and power to
change this deadly equation ***
On Tuesday November 26, an extremely diverse angry crowd of at least 4-500 people with AIDS and their supporters are paying a visit to the
Bush Administration in Washington DC. This is a two days before Thanksgiving, and timed so as not to conflict with other December 1-World AIDS Day remembrances.
The message will be similar to that delivered in Barcelona: a limited and specific number of crucial global and domestic AIDS issues.
1. Funding and personnel as needed to implement a plan to treat three million PWHIV worldwide by 2005, including comprehensive care services and significant increases in contributions to the Global Fund.
2. Debt cancellation for the poorest countries, freeing up new funds for locally directed health and education spending.
3. Passage of the Early Treatment for HIV Act (ETHA) which extends Medicaid coverage to perhaps hundreds of thousands of people with HIV in the US who are not yet poor and sick enough to qualify for medication.
4. Increases in ADAP funding to get AIDS medicines to people with AIDS in the US currently on waiting lists because the Bush budget has
not kept pace with the growing epidemic at home.
5. Science-based HIV prevention at home and internationally, supporting the lives of vulnerable people, instead of budget cuts and
audits targeting agencies serving that women, people of color, gays and lesbians, youth and drug users.
Why are you getting this message?
Because the movement has stated for years a wish to reinvigorate a strong grassroots presence. Because asking nice is not working.
Because the history of social movements in the United States demonstrate that the voices of advocates at the table are taken far more seriously if they are speaking in concert with a mobilized and aggressive constituency.
Because we need help.
A few of us have talked about raising the profile of the World AIDS Day action being currently coming together.
The dire urgency of our current situation and the Administration's intractable refusal to take leadership on AIDS requires us all to raise the ante on the President. For this action to make more of a splash than our previous numerous actions, we are asking that the executive directors and staff of AIDS and global advocacy groups join us in an act of peaceful civil disobedience.
We need help with media support. We need help with funding to help pay for busloads of demonstrators. We need help your help marshalling
our notable supporters and senior staff to make a peaceful civil disobedience action as high profile as possible. This event will be safe for non-CD participants, with ample marshaling and legal support. Any CD participants will of course be offered CD training. The precise nature of the CD scenario will be developed by the participants.
1. If your schedule and legal history permits, we want you to take part in a non-violent civil disobedience demanding presidential action on global and domestic AIDS treatment and prevention. As a rule, you will be released within a few hours, with no legal ramification and no ensuing court cases. There are never any
promises, of course.
2. We need you to help contact any notable people they you think might participate with us in this act of civil disobedience. Please help complete the list below with your contacts.
3. We need your media staff to support this action. With help from your organization, we can make a powerful event that becomes _the_
national World AIDS Day story.
4. The cost of transporting 8-16 busloads of demonstrators to support the CD group from Philadelphia, New York and beyond will cost
approximately $1200 / bus, plus other expenses that arise from a major mobilization. The largest grassroots group in the sponsoring coalition currently has a significant debt to its members. In other words, ACT UP Philadelphia has _no_ money to pay for this.
5. TURN OUT: if your organization has staff or members or clients anywhere in the mid-Atlantic region BRING THEM OUT. As you know, politics is about power, and the power we have on our side is
significant numbers of motivated people. As many have noted, the US AIDS movement has become atrophied from a lack of exercise. Its not
difficult to mobilize large numbers of staff and clients, if the organization provides transportation, and all staff are given extensive and explicit executive support. Clear messages from agency leadership are necessary to inspire the community to act. We must provide the vehicle through which people with AIDS can recognize
personal capacity to powerfully influence political struggles. We must make clear to our staff and members our obligation to check the
negligence of the government we bear responsibility for.
If you or your organization are able to help in any way with media, funding, turnout, or CD participants, please contact Paul Davis at:
pdavis@healthgap.org / 215.833.4102
For groups in NYC, contact Sharonann Lynch at: salynch@healthgap.org
/ Tel: 212-674-9598.
MOBILIZATION TO FIGHT AIDS IN THE U.S. AND WORLDWIDE
Last week, senior White House officials, in a meeting with AIDS activists, made it plain that President Bush is going to insist on underfunding the fight against global AIDS until disproven or
underesourced programs have delivered the results they are unable to produce. The childish banality of the Administration is would be laughable, if there were not 100 million lives hanging in the balance.
At the same time, the Bush administration assualts AIDS organizations serving communities of color, youth and gay men with vicious audits
and intimidation tactics. Federal AIDS drug programs continue to be starved by the Bush Administration, and the Early Treatment Act for
HIV gathers dust on the shelf, requiring people with AIDS in the United States to spend themselves into poverty or wait until they are
very sick to qualify for health care and medicine.
*** If it was not already abundantly clear, simply asking the White House is not going to work. We must join to our voices and power to
change this deadly equation ***
On Tuesday November 26, an extremely diverse angry crowd of at least 4-500 people with AIDS and their supporters are paying a visit to the
Bush Administration in Washington DC. This is a two days before Thanksgiving, and timed so as not to conflict with other December 1-World AIDS Day remembrances.
The message will be similar to that delivered in Barcelona: a limited and specific number of crucial global and domestic AIDS issues.
1. Funding and personnel as needed to implement a plan to treat three million PWHIV worldwide by 2005, including comprehensive care services and significant increases in contributions to the Global Fund.
2. Debt cancellation for the poorest countries, freeing up new funds for locally directed health and education spending.
3. Passage of the Early Treatment for HIV Act (ETHA) which extends Medicaid coverage to perhaps hundreds of thousands of people with HIV in the US who are not yet poor and sick enough to qualify for medication.
4. Increases in ADAP funding to get AIDS medicines to people with AIDS in the US currently on waiting lists because the Bush budget has
not kept pace with the growing epidemic at home.
5. Science-based HIV prevention at home and internationally, supporting the lives of vulnerable people, instead of budget cuts and
audits targeting agencies serving that women, people of color, gays and lesbians, youth and drug users.
Why are you getting this message?
Because the movement has stated for years a wish to reinvigorate a strong grassroots presence. Because asking nice is not working.
Because the history of social movements in the United States demonstrate that the voices of advocates at the table are taken far more seriously if they are speaking in concert with a mobilized and aggressive constituency.
Because we need help.
A few of us have talked about raising the profile of the World AIDS Day action being currently coming together.
The dire urgency of our current situation and the Administration's intractable refusal to take leadership on AIDS requires us all to raise the ante on the President. For this action to make more of a splash than our previous numerous actions, we are asking that the executive directors and staff of AIDS and global advocacy groups join us in an act of peaceful civil disobedience.
We need help with media support. We need help with funding to help pay for busloads of demonstrators. We need help your help marshalling
our notable supporters and senior staff to make a peaceful civil disobedience action as high profile as possible. This event will be safe for non-CD participants, with ample marshaling and legal support. Any CD participants will of course be offered CD training. The precise nature of the CD scenario will be developed by the participants.
1. If your schedule and legal history permits, we want you to take part in a non-violent civil disobedience demanding presidential action on global and domestic AIDS treatment and prevention. As a rule, you will be released within a few hours, with no legal ramification and no ensuing court cases. There are never any
promises, of course.
2. We need you to help contact any notable people they you think might participate with us in this act of civil disobedience. Please help complete the list below with your contacts.
3. We need your media staff to support this action. With help from your organization, we can make a powerful event that becomes _the_
national World AIDS Day story.
4. The cost of transporting 8-16 busloads of demonstrators to support the CD group from Philadelphia, New York and beyond will cost
approximately $1200 / bus, plus other expenses that arise from a major mobilization. The largest grassroots group in the sponsoring coalition currently has a significant debt to its members. In other words, ACT UP Philadelphia has _no_ money to pay for this.
5. TURN OUT: if your organization has staff or members or clients anywhere in the mid-Atlantic region BRING THEM OUT. As you know, politics is about power, and the power we have on our side is
significant numbers of motivated people. As many have noted, the US AIDS movement has become atrophied from a lack of exercise. Its not
difficult to mobilize large numbers of staff and clients, if the organization provides transportation, and all staff are given extensive and explicit executive support. Clear messages from agency leadership are necessary to inspire the community to act. We must provide the vehicle through which people with AIDS can recognize
personal capacity to powerfully influence political struggles. We must make clear to our staff and members our obligation to check the
negligence of the government we bear responsibility for.
If you or your organization are able to help in any way with media, funding, turnout, or CD participants, please contact Paul Davis at:
pdavis@healthgap.org / 215.833.4102
For groups in NYC, contact Sharonann Lynch at: salynch@healthgap.org
/ Tel: 212-674-9598.
AIDS Action International Presents
St. Nicholas Celebration
Wednesday, December 4, 2002, 7:00 PM
@The Cathedral of St. John the Divine
Amsterdam Avenue at 112th Street
Tim Brumfield, Cathedral Organist
Lavender Light: Black and People of All Colors Lesbian and Gay Gospel Choir
Sandra Goodman, Contralto
Andrew Gibbons, Pianist
Dante, Contemporary Band
A Community Outreach of AIDS Action International to Benefit:
St. Mary's Children's Hospital AIDS Home Care
Bayside Queens
Albert Einstein Family Immunology Center,
The Bronx; St.
Mary's Episcpal
Free Admission, but Please Bring Holiday Gifts (Unwrapped) for Children, Women and Men living with HIV/AIDS
A Freewill Offering Is Received to Benefit the Work of AIDS Action International
Information: Father Rand Frew at:
212-633-1062 or
Nick Dowen at:
718-448-2006
St. Nicholas Celebration
Wednesday, December 4, 2002, 7:00 PM
@The Cathedral of St. John the Divine
Amsterdam Avenue at 112th Street
Tim Brumfield, Cathedral Organist
Lavender Light: Black and People of All Colors Lesbian and Gay Gospel Choir
Sandra Goodman, Contralto
Andrew Gibbons, Pianist
Dante, Contemporary Band
A Community Outreach of AIDS Action International to Benefit:
St. Mary's Children's Hospital AIDS Home Care
Bayside Queens
Albert Einstein Family Immunology Center,
The Bronx; St.
Mary's Episcpal
Free Admission, but Please Bring Holiday Gifts (Unwrapped) for Children, Women and Men living with HIV/AIDS
A Freewill Offering Is Received to Benefit the Work of AIDS Action International
Information: Father Rand Frew at:
212-633-1062 or
Nick Dowen at:
718-448-2006
Pre-World AIDS Day Demonstration against Bush in Washington, DC
FIGHT AIDS, NOT ENDLESS WAR STATE OF EMERGENCY: NOT ANOTHER YEAR OF DEADLY AIDS POLICIES
PROTEST:
Tuesday, November 26, 2002 in Washington, DC
Meet at NOON at McPherson Square, 15th & Eye Street NW. March on the White House.
(Free buses from New York City and Philadelphia).
DEMAND WHITE HOUSE ACTION AGAINST AIDS in the UNITED STATES & WORLDWIDE
****************************************
WE DECLARE A STATE OF EMERGENCY
CODE RED: Not another year of deadly AIDS policies.
Code Red is the language the Bush Administration uses to portray a severe threat of terrorist attack in the US. We declare a "Code Red"--the Bush Administration's indifference to the global AIDS crisis is a severe threat to the lives of 40 million people with AIDS around the globe.
On November 13, Secretary of State Colin Powell said the HIV/AIDS pandemic is "the biggest problem that we have on the face of the earth today" and yet the priorities of the Bush Administration are clear: trillions more for the war effort, and trillions in tax cuts for the very rich. Meanwhile the figt against AIDS in the US and in developing countries is neglected, and over 3 million people, overwhelmingly people of color in poor countries, will die this year
alone because they lack access to appropriate care and treatment, including antiretroviral therapy. In the United States, there will
continue to be more than 40,000 new HIV infections each year, predominantly in communities of color, because basic public health
programs like safe-sex education and harm reduction programs including needle exchange programs are frozen, cut or blocked.
The policies of the Bush administration mean hundreds of millions of people will get infected with, and die from, HIV/AIDS.
We say: Not another year of federal AIDS policies that
--> refuses to commit significant funds to the global battle against HIV/AIDS in a time when treatment and prevention could stem the escalating worldwide epidemic
--> kick people off AIDS drug assistance rolls throughout the US
--> block funds for needle exchange
--> restrict AIDS education for youth to abstinence-only
--> flat-fund the Ryan White CARE Act and the Minority AIDS Initiative
despite growing numbers of people with HIV in need of care
--> force community organizations to cut services or to shut their doors
--> assault AIDS organizations serving communities of color, youth and gay men
with vicious audits and intimidation tactics
****************************************
On Tuesday, November 26, join us to declare CODE RED against the threat of the Bush Administration.
* With one million infections, there are more people with HIV in the US than ever before.
* The global epidemic is in its infancy, with today's 40 million infections expected to balloon to 100 million by 2010.
* Faced with a national and global disaster, President Bush is a man with no plan ... except to starve domestic and international AIDS programs of funds in order to pay for an endless war.
****************************************
BACKGROUND:
o Bush is dismantling the fight against AIDS in the US.
The victories that were fought and won by people with AIDS are facing a rollback under this administration.
o Bush has retreated from efforts to fight AIDS in poor countries.
Bush Administration officials claim they are leaders in the fight against AIDS in poor countries when in actuality, they sabotage,
underfund, and curtail poor countries' efforts to stem the pandemic abroad by bringing affordable AIDS treatment to the 36 million who do
not have sustainable access to medicines.
o Resources to keep people alive are going to war efforts that kill.
The National Intelligence Council reports HIV/AIDS will cause a "humanitarian catastrophe" in Russia, Nigeria, India and China, and is likely to result in dramatic upheavals across Africa. And yet, President Bush wants $396 billion for war in next year's federal budget. The Congressional Budget Office estimates that the war against Iraq could cost anywhere from $9 to $13 billion dollars a MONTH. Other agencies estimate the first 60 days of war will cost
$60 billion.
****************************************
MORE INFORMATION:
Go to: http://www.healthgap.org/WAD.html
Email: pdavis@healthgap.org, salynch@healthgap.org
Call: 215-833-4102 or 212-674-9598
Sponsoring Organizations: ACT UP, Health Global Access Project (GAP),
African Services Committee, Housing Works, NYC AIDS Housing Network.
Over 300 organizations from every continent have endorsed the call to action imploring Bush to announce a global AIDS plan before the end
of January.
For more information on the demonstration and the proposal for the Presidential Global AIDS Initiative, go to:
http://www.healthgap.org/WAD.html
****************************************
NYC BUS INFO
Free Buses to DC leave at 6 AM from various locations. Meals provided. Donations welcome. To reserve your seat, call:
212-674-9598,
email:
salynch@healthgap.org
1) Midtown: Columbus Circle at 59th Street.
Take the A, B, C, D, 1, 9 to Columbus Circle. N, R, Q, W to 57th Street.
2) SoHo: Broadway & Houston.
Take the F, S, V to B'way-Lafayette, 6 to Spring St., or N, R to Prince St.
3) Harlem: 125th St at 7th Ave/Adam Clayton Powell Blvd by the Federal Plaza.
Take the A, B, C, D to 125th St.
4) Brooklyn: 1 Hanson Place, corner of Flatbush Ave.
Take the 2,3,4,5,Q. LIRR train to Atlantic or W,M,N,R train to Pacific or 2 blocks from C train to Lafayette St. right across from BAM.
****************************************
PHILADELPHIA BUS INFO
Free Buses to DC leave at 8 AM from Broad and Walnut.
To reserve your seat, call:
215-833-4102,
email:
pdavis@critpath.org
Sharonann Lynch
salynch@healthgap.org
ACT UP New York
Health GAP (Global Access Project)
Tel +1 212 674-9598
Mob +1 646 645-5225
http://www.healthgap.org
FIGHT AIDS, NOT ENDLESS WAR STATE OF EMERGENCY: NOT ANOTHER YEAR OF DEADLY AIDS POLICIES
PROTEST:
Tuesday, November 26, 2002 in Washington, DC
Meet at NOON at McPherson Square, 15th & Eye Street NW. March on the White House.
(Free buses from New York City and Philadelphia).
DEMAND WHITE HOUSE ACTION AGAINST AIDS in the UNITED STATES & WORLDWIDE
****************************************
WE DECLARE A STATE OF EMERGENCY
CODE RED: Not another year of deadly AIDS policies.
Code Red is the language the Bush Administration uses to portray a severe threat of terrorist attack in the US. We declare a "Code Red"--the Bush Administration's indifference to the global AIDS crisis is a severe threat to the lives of 40 million people with AIDS around the globe.
On November 13, Secretary of State Colin Powell said the HIV/AIDS pandemic is "the biggest problem that we have on the face of the earth today" and yet the priorities of the Bush Administration are clear: trillions more for the war effort, and trillions in tax cuts for the very rich. Meanwhile the figt against AIDS in the US and in developing countries is neglected, and over 3 million people, overwhelmingly people of color in poor countries, will die this year
alone because they lack access to appropriate care and treatment, including antiretroviral therapy. In the United States, there will
continue to be more than 40,000 new HIV infections each year, predominantly in communities of color, because basic public health
programs like safe-sex education and harm reduction programs including needle exchange programs are frozen, cut or blocked.
The policies of the Bush administration mean hundreds of millions of people will get infected with, and die from, HIV/AIDS.
We say: Not another year of federal AIDS policies that
--> refuses to commit significant funds to the global battle against HIV/AIDS in a time when treatment and prevention could stem the escalating worldwide epidemic
--> kick people off AIDS drug assistance rolls throughout the US
--> block funds for needle exchange
--> restrict AIDS education for youth to abstinence-only
--> flat-fund the Ryan White CARE Act and the Minority AIDS Initiative
despite growing numbers of people with HIV in need of care
--> force community organizations to cut services or to shut their doors
--> assault AIDS organizations serving communities of color, youth and gay men
with vicious audits and intimidation tactics
****************************************
On Tuesday, November 26, join us to declare CODE RED against the threat of the Bush Administration.
* With one million infections, there are more people with HIV in the US than ever before.
* The global epidemic is in its infancy, with today's 40 million infections expected to balloon to 100 million by 2010.
* Faced with a national and global disaster, President Bush is a man with no plan ... except to starve domestic and international AIDS programs of funds in order to pay for an endless war.
****************************************
BACKGROUND:
o Bush is dismantling the fight against AIDS in the US.
The victories that were fought and won by people with AIDS are facing a rollback under this administration.
o Bush has retreated from efforts to fight AIDS in poor countries.
Bush Administration officials claim they are leaders in the fight against AIDS in poor countries when in actuality, they sabotage,
underfund, and curtail poor countries' efforts to stem the pandemic abroad by bringing affordable AIDS treatment to the 36 million who do
not have sustainable access to medicines.
o Resources to keep people alive are going to war efforts that kill.
The National Intelligence Council reports HIV/AIDS will cause a "humanitarian catastrophe" in Russia, Nigeria, India and China, and is likely to result in dramatic upheavals across Africa. And yet, President Bush wants $396 billion for war in next year's federal budget. The Congressional Budget Office estimates that the war against Iraq could cost anywhere from $9 to $13 billion dollars a MONTH. Other agencies estimate the first 60 days of war will cost
$60 billion.
****************************************
MORE INFORMATION:
Go to: http://www.healthgap.org/WAD.html
Email: pdavis@healthgap.org, salynch@healthgap.org
Call: 215-833-4102 or 212-674-9598
Sponsoring Organizations: ACT UP, Health Global Access Project (GAP),
African Services Committee, Housing Works, NYC AIDS Housing Network.
Over 300 organizations from every continent have endorsed the call to action imploring Bush to announce a global AIDS plan before the end
of January.
For more information on the demonstration and the proposal for the Presidential Global AIDS Initiative, go to:
http://www.healthgap.org/WAD.html
****************************************
NYC BUS INFO
Free Buses to DC leave at 6 AM from various locations. Meals provided. Donations welcome. To reserve your seat, call:
212-674-9598,
email:
salynch@healthgap.org
1) Midtown: Columbus Circle at 59th Street.
Take the A, B, C, D, 1, 9 to Columbus Circle. N, R, Q, W to 57th Street.
2) SoHo: Broadway & Houston.
Take the F, S, V to B'way-Lafayette, 6 to Spring St., or N, R to Prince St.
3) Harlem: 125th St at 7th Ave/Adam Clayton Powell Blvd by the Federal Plaza.
Take the A, B, C, D to 125th St.
4) Brooklyn: 1 Hanson Place, corner of Flatbush Ave.
Take the 2,3,4,5,Q. LIRR train to Atlantic or W,M,N,R train to Pacific or 2 blocks from C train to Lafayette St. right across from BAM.
****************************************
PHILADELPHIA BUS INFO
Free Buses to DC leave at 8 AM from Broad and Walnut.
To reserve your seat, call:
215-833-4102,
email:
pdavis@critpath.org
Sharonann Lynch
salynch@healthgap.org
ACT UP New York
Health GAP (Global Access Project)
Tel +1 212 674-9598
Mob +1 646 645-5225
http://www.healthgap.org
HIV/AIDS Prevention Policy Update
Politics and Policy | Political Pressure From Conservative Politicians,
Advocacy Groups Weakens CDC HIV/AIDS Prevention Programs, Staff Says
[Nov 25, 2002]
Political pressure from conservative politicians and advocacy groups is
weakening the CDC's HIV/AIDS prevention
programs, according to staff members and groups that receive funding from the
agency, the Atlanta
Journal-Constitution reports.
Recently, information on AIDS prevention was removed from the agency's Web
site and groups that use CDC funding for AIDS education contend they are being
audited because of a political climate that is "hostile" to comprehensive sex
education. In November, for example, a committee that advises the CDC on HIV
prevention was merged with a panel that examines AIDS issues for the Health Resources and Services Administration,
effectively "dilut[ing]" the CDC committee's power, according to critics.
Also, AIDS advocacy organizations are protesting that the CDC has invited
groups that support abstinence-only education programs to a "prevention
summit" scheduled for December. "We are concerned about the credibility that
abstinence-only programs are getting," Martin Algarze of Gay Men's Health Crisis said. Audits Raise
Suspicion
The Journal-Constitution reports that in September, 24 Republican lawmakers
asked HHS Secretary Tommy Thompson to audit
three not-for-profit groups that develop sex-education materials.
The Stop AIDS Project of San Francisco
has had its safe-sex workshop materials audited twice in 12 months, once by
the CDC and once by the HHS inspector general's office.
Some CDC staffers privately predict that such political pressure will
intensify when Republicans assume control of Congress in January. However,
officials with HHS and the CDC say there is no "undue political or ideological
pressure." Dr. Harold Jaffe, director of the CDC's National Center for HIV, STD
and TB Prevention, said that "at least some of" the audits are part of a
scheduled CDC review and that both "very conservative" and "very liberal"
groups will be included in the prevention summit scheduled for next month
(McKenna, Atlanta Journal-Constitution, 11/23).
Yours in the Struggle:
Oliver W. Martin III
Deputy Director
Conscious Contact of New York, Inc.
Please visit our Website for more event listings
Website: www.ccofny.org
Politics and Policy | Political Pressure From Conservative Politicians,
Advocacy Groups Weakens CDC HIV/AIDS Prevention Programs, Staff Says
[Nov 25, 2002]
Political pressure from conservative politicians and advocacy groups is
weakening the CDC's HIV/AIDS prevention
programs, according to staff members and groups that receive funding from the
agency, the Atlanta
Journal-Constitution reports.
Recently, information on AIDS prevention was removed from the agency's Web
site and groups that use CDC funding for AIDS education contend they are being
audited because of a political climate that is "hostile" to comprehensive sex
education. In November, for example, a committee that advises the CDC on HIV
prevention was merged with a panel that examines AIDS issues for the Health Resources and Services Administration,
effectively "dilut[ing]" the CDC committee's power, according to critics.
Also, AIDS advocacy organizations are protesting that the CDC has invited
groups that support abstinence-only education programs to a "prevention
summit" scheduled for December. "We are concerned about the credibility that
abstinence-only programs are getting," Martin Algarze of Gay Men's Health Crisis said. Audits Raise
Suspicion
The Journal-Constitution reports that in September, 24 Republican lawmakers
asked HHS Secretary Tommy Thompson to audit
three not-for-profit groups that develop sex-education materials.
The Stop AIDS Project of San Francisco
has had its safe-sex workshop materials audited twice in 12 months, once by
the CDC and once by the HHS inspector general's office.
Some CDC staffers privately predict that such political pressure will
intensify when Republicans assume control of Congress in January. However,
officials with HHS and the CDC say there is no "undue political or ideological
pressure." Dr. Harold Jaffe, director of the CDC's National Center for HIV, STD
and TB Prevention, said that "at least some of" the audits are part of a
scheduled CDC review and that both "very conservative" and "very liberal"
groups will be included in the prevention summit scheduled for next month
(McKenna, Atlanta Journal-Constitution, 11/23).
Yours in the Struggle:
Oliver W. Martin III
Deputy Director
Conscious Contact of New York, Inc.
Please visit our Website for more event listings
Website: www.ccofny.org
Wed, Nov 27- Several hundred AIDS activists marched in downtown Washington yesterday to
call on President Bush to increase funding for global and domestic AIDS treatment, prevention and education, in a spirited protest that ended with planned arrests in front of the White House.
In a scenario agreed on with police ahead of time, 31 protesters, some linked by thin chains around their waists, lay on their backs on the
sidewalk outside the White House fence and were arrested and charged with conducting a stationary demonstration in a restricted area, a misdemeanor, U.S. Park Police said.
"It's a weapon of mass destruction, and it's being ignored," Philadelphia resident Tymm Walker, 42, said of AIDS. Walker said that he was diagnosed with HIV 18 years ago and that he has one brother who has the virus and another who died of AIDS complications seven years ago. "I don't want to see nobody else's mother go through what my mother has been through," he said.
Walker and others with HIV and AIDS boarded buses from New York, Philadelphia and Baltimore to participate in the noon protest. The event --
organized by the Health GAP Coalition and ACT UP groups in New York and Philadelphia, among others -- was held as World AIDS Day approaches on Sunday.
Some carried mock body bags reading "Bush: Stop AIDS Deaths" and others cardboard skulls as the protesters marched from McPherson Square at 15th
Street NW to nearby Lafayette Square, across from the White House.
Activists said the fight against AIDS in the United States and developing countries is being neglected. They said more than 3 million people, many in poor countries, will die this year because they lack access to HIV/AIDS treatment. They argued that the Bush administration has made the war effort and tax cuts its priorities, ignoring the plight of those with HIV/AIDS.
"He's a man without a plan," Paul Davis, 33, said of the president. Davis, a director of the Health GAP Coalition and one of those arrested, said Bush "has not kept his promises to respond to the global AIDS disaster."
Davis and others demanded that the United States contribute more to the newly created Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria. The U.S.
pledge of $500 million is too little, said activists, who also called on the administration to support a global AIDS initiative for $2.5 billion in new spending.
Organizers cooperated with D.C. police and U.S. Park Police on the march route and the arrests. At Lafayette Square, where large protests are banned, police on foot and horseback stopped protesters. At 1:45 p.m., 31 protesters left the larger group and marched to the White House fence, where they were surrounded by police and carried to waiting vans.
Manny Fernandez/Washington Post
ACTUPNY_Actions@topica.com
hgapallies@critpath.org,ACTUPNY_Actions@topica.com
call on President Bush to increase funding for global and domestic AIDS treatment, prevention and education, in a spirited protest that ended with planned arrests in front of the White House.
In a scenario agreed on with police ahead of time, 31 protesters, some linked by thin chains around their waists, lay on their backs on the
sidewalk outside the White House fence and were arrested and charged with conducting a stationary demonstration in a restricted area, a misdemeanor, U.S. Park Police said.
"It's a weapon of mass destruction, and it's being ignored," Philadelphia resident Tymm Walker, 42, said of AIDS. Walker said that he was diagnosed with HIV 18 years ago and that he has one brother who has the virus and another who died of AIDS complications seven years ago. "I don't want to see nobody else's mother go through what my mother has been through," he said.
Walker and others with HIV and AIDS boarded buses from New York, Philadelphia and Baltimore to participate in the noon protest. The event --
organized by the Health GAP Coalition and ACT UP groups in New York and Philadelphia, among others -- was held as World AIDS Day approaches on Sunday.
Some carried mock body bags reading "Bush: Stop AIDS Deaths" and others cardboard skulls as the protesters marched from McPherson Square at 15th
Street NW to nearby Lafayette Square, across from the White House.
Activists said the fight against AIDS in the United States and developing countries is being neglected. They said more than 3 million people, many in poor countries, will die this year because they lack access to HIV/AIDS treatment. They argued that the Bush administration has made the war effort and tax cuts its priorities, ignoring the plight of those with HIV/AIDS.
"He's a man without a plan," Paul Davis, 33, said of the president. Davis, a director of the Health GAP Coalition and one of those arrested, said Bush "has not kept his promises to respond to the global AIDS disaster."
Davis and others demanded that the United States contribute more to the newly created Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria. The U.S.
pledge of $500 million is too little, said activists, who also called on the administration to support a global AIDS initiative for $2.5 billion in new spending.
Organizers cooperated with D.C. police and U.S. Park Police on the march route and the arrests. At Lafayette Square, where large protests are banned, police on foot and horseback stopped protesters. At 1:45 p.m., 31 protesters left the larger group and marched to the White House fence, where they were surrounded by police and carried to waiting vans.
Manny Fernandez/Washington Post
ACTUPNY_Actions@topica.com
hgapallies@critpath.org,ACTUPNY_Actions@topica.com
In Australia, HIV/AIDS is still largely seen as a homosexual disease. I'm constantly mortified by the level of complacency I see it the hetero community towards safe sex.
Recently I have been going thru a really hard time, watching someone whom I love dearly deteriorating. It's too painful for me to go into the details of his current ailments. Anyone who has lost someone to AIDS knows what a cruel disease it is. The worst part for me is the fact that I'm unable to do anything.
This will be his last summer with us.
I am shocked at just how hard it is for me, as I have been involved with vollunteer work in the community for about ten years now. I'm at the stage now where I feel that I will be unable to go thru it again. I have spent countless hours at the hospital while he has been given transfusions etc.
I have written a 7minute poetic performance piece, which unfortunatly I am feeling too burnt out to produce. If anyone over there is interested, e-mail me at:
marythehairyfairy@hotmail.com
And I'll send it to you. The work is geared towards the heterosexual community, and aims to dispell the myth that AIDS affects only queers.
Thank-you for starting this page. Although it is very painful, it is also a very important issue. It's been really great to hear about the events over there.
Worls AIDS Day has only just passed. Before I pinned on my ribbon this year, I picked it up, turned it upside down and said to myself, 'when will we be able to turn this flaming thing around and say now it's a V for victory....'
Recently I have been going thru a really hard time, watching someone whom I love dearly deteriorating. It's too painful for me to go into the details of his current ailments. Anyone who has lost someone to AIDS knows what a cruel disease it is. The worst part for me is the fact that I'm unable to do anything.
This will be his last summer with us.
I am shocked at just how hard it is for me, as I have been involved with vollunteer work in the community for about ten years now. I'm at the stage now where I feel that I will be unable to go thru it again. I have spent countless hours at the hospital while he has been given transfusions etc.
I have written a 7minute poetic performance piece, which unfortunatly I am feeling too burnt out to produce. If anyone over there is interested, e-mail me at:
marythehairyfairy@hotmail.com
And I'll send it to you. The work is geared towards the heterosexual community, and aims to dispell the myth that AIDS affects only queers.
Thank-you for starting this page. Although it is very painful, it is also a very important issue. It's been really great to hear about the events over there.
Worls AIDS Day has only just passed. Before I pinned on my ribbon this year, I picked it up, turned it upside down and said to myself, 'when will we be able to turn this flaming thing around and say now it's a V for victory....'
Scientists have made a vital breakthrough in the search for an Aids vaccine, according to new research.
Experts from The Scripps Research Institute (TSRI), based in California, in the United States, have solved the structure of an antibody which neutralises the HIV virus.
http://icberkshire.icnetwork.co.uk/0100news/nationalnews/content_objectid=13115397_method=full_siteid=50102_headline=---x91-Breakthrough--x92--in-bid-for-Aids-vaccine-name_page.html
Experts from The Scripps Research Institute (TSRI), based in California, in the United States, have solved the structure of an antibody which neutralises the HIV virus.
http://icberkshire.icnetwork.co.uk/0100news/nationalnews/content_objectid=13115397_method=full_siteid=50102_headline=---x91-Breakthrough--x92--in-bid-for-Aids-vaccine-name_page.html