An open letter to President Obama

The following is a letter sent to the President from 34 national leaders in HIV prevention policy with recommendations on how the National HIV/AIDS Strategy can advance our HIV prevention efforts.

­December 9, 2009

President Barack Obama
The White House
Washington, DC 20500

Dear Mr. President,

As you know, HIV/AIDS remains a public health emergency in the United States. There is a new HIV infection every 9 ½ minutes, half of people living with HIV/AIDS are not in care, and there are disturbing and persistent gender, racial, ethnic, and geographic disparities in HIV infection rates and treatment access.

Despite these challenges, we have ample evidence that HIV prevention strategies are effective and have already averted hundreds of thousands of HIV infections in the US. With your leadership and commitment to implement a new, coordinated plan of action, a dramatic reduction in HIV infections in the U.S. is possible.

As individuals dedicated to ensuring the most effective response to HIV/AIDS in our country, we thank you for your pioneering leadership on health reform. We know that health reform will have a profoundly positive impact on the lives of people living with and at elevated risk of HIV/AIDS. Still, health reform will not solve all the complex issues involved in vulnerability to HIV infection or utilization of HIV-related health care.

We therefore applaud your commitment to developing a National HIV/AIDS Strategy designed to create an efficient and accountable federal HIV prevention and care effort that is focused on achieving specific outcomes: bringing down HIV incidence, increasing care access, and reducing health disparities.

We are 34 national leaders in HIV programming and policy who came together in October 2009 to discuss how the Strategy can lead us to the most effective HIV prevention effort. This independent meeting was sponsored by the Coalition for a National AIDS Strategy to complement the series of community discussions organized by your Office of National AIDS Policy (ONAP). The Coalition is organizing three other independent consultations on aspects of the Strategy: care, disparities and research.

Mr. President, to achieve your laudable goal of lowering HIV incidence, your Strategy must bring about fundamental changes in federal HIV prevention efforts, including:

• Greater priority on prevention in the US response to HIV/AIDS, and substantially increased resources for prevention
• True accountability and results-oriented management that includes a limited number of distinct, ambitious and achievable targets and regular reporting on results
• A strategic orientation that evaluates national, state and local programming for its ability to achieve population level impact on incidence and monitors resource allocation to ensure prevention funds are used to achieve maximum impact
• Coordination across multiple federal agencies engaged in HIV prevention
• New targeted initiatives designed to meet the HIV prevention needs of: 1) gay/bisexual men of all races, other men who have sex with men (MSM) and transgender people of all races and ethnicities; and, 2) Black women and men, inclusive of Black MSM
• Long term investments, such as Health Renewal Zones, to address antecedents of risk that facilitate HIV and other health disparities including STI, hepatitis and tuberculosis transmission in the most vulnerable communities

Without concrete changes in our nation’s approach, there is the very real danger that HIV prevention efforts will actually deteriorate in the coming years, leading to increasing HIV incidence. Severe cutbacks in state budgets have already undercut health promotion programming across the country. We need a much more strategic, accountable and better-funded federal HIV prevention enterprise than we have had to date, as well as your ongoing, personal leadership to demand improved outcomes from public and private programming.

Perhaps the most salient agreement forged at our recent consultation was the moral imperative of a bold undertaking to address the domestic HIV/AIDS crisis with the full force and influence of the federal government. Our consultation generated many good ideas, but we want to highlight a few core points that we believe are essential to creating a Strategy that will advance our nation’s HIV prevention response and lead to lower HIV incidence rates:

1) Set ambitious, achievable targets for reduced HIV incidence and a limited number of other HIV prevention-related goals and report annually on progress towards achieving these targets.

The current CDC target of reducing HIV incidence by 5% annually is not sufficiently ambitious. Setting a goal for more rapid progress towards lower HIV incidence will send a clear message that your Strategy is designed to bring needed improvements in our HIV prevention response. We recommend setting aggressive targets for HIV incidence, the HIV transmission rate, HIV testing (including our success at diagnosing those who are HIV-positive), and the percentage of people who are living with HIV/AIDS and know their status. We recommend setting a federal goal of reducing the HIV incidence and transmission rates[1] by 50% by the end of 2016. This goal can only be achieved given significantly increased resources and a more efficient and effective prevention effort.

2) Make needed reforms in the federal HIV prevention effort. These include:

-Significantly increase resources for HIV prevention at CDC and other agencies. HIV prevention programming has not seen a significant increase in years. New resource investments are needed commensurate with more ambitious targets for reduced incidence. The CDC’s Professional Judgment Budget estimate of $1.6 billion needed for comprehensive HIV prevention should be used as a guide in determining funding requests.

• Ensure new prevention resources through health reform, including Community Based Prevention and Wellness services, are available for HIV prevention.

-Call for needed changes in law and policy to advance HIV prevention and reduce stigma against PLWHA and groups perceived at elevated risk for HIV. Necessary legal changes include:

• Ending the ban on federal funding for syringe exchange
• Passage of the Employment Non-Discrimination Act; repeal of the Defense of Marriage Act; repeal of restrictions on promotion of homosexuality in HIV prevention materials; and repeal of Don’t Ask Don’t Tell.
• Reform of sentencing laws and creation of more options to avoid imprisonment in order to reduce the number of individuals cycling in and out of the corrections system and the resulting impact on communities
• Expanded funding for age-appropriate comprehensive sex education that includes positive images of LGBT sexuality.

-Establish a more accountable and transparent HIV prevention response:

• Direct CDC and other agencies engaged in HIV prevention to publish an inventory of where prevention funds are allocated. Provide an analysis of how public funds are allocated to various functions in the public and private sectors.
• Monitor local and state use of federal funds to ensure resource allocations appropriately match the epidemiology of local epidemics.
• Direct CDC, NIH and other agencies to create a resource allocation model to help local and state planners prioritize resources among different levels of interventions for different epidemics (building upon CDC’s initial efforts to construct such a model)
• Substantially transform the Community HIV Prevention Planning process so that there is a more accountable and truly strategic response to local and state epidemics. Provide flexibility in the HIV Prevention Community Planning process by limiting federal requirements to jurisdictions to the demonstration of the meaningful input of people living with HIV/AIDS and allocation of resources closely informed by the epidemiologic profile (while allowing jurisdictional and state flexibility in demonstrating coherence with national strategic goals).
• Clarify that the CDC’s Compendium of Evidence-Based HIV Prevention Interventions and Diffusion of Evidence-Based Interventions (DEBI) programs are just two elements of the HIV prevention response. It is essential that prevention programming be founded on evidence of what is effective without discouraging innovation. A greater emphasis is needed on developing and testing scalable programs, as well as evidence-based programs to address prevention needs, particularly among populations at elevated risk, including young gay/MSM.
• Put new emphasis on evaluating innovative prevention programming that can be brought to a scale capable of making population-level impact. This will require assuring that interventions are prioritized according to their ability to reduce incidence. The current paucity of research on what programs are effective at achieving population-level impact on HIV incidence is a major impediment to more successful prevention efforts.

-Improve the quality and policy-relevance of HIV epidemiology.

• Revise the format of the annual CDC epidemiologic report so that it has maximum relevance for national, state, and local planners.
• Create a “dashboard” of critical epidemiological data that can guide strategic planning and resource allocation; this would require improved surveillance of HIV incidence and would include disease incidence and behavioral data, coverage of HIV testing and other services, concurrent HIV and AIDS diagnoses and other measures. This is necessary to capture in one place multiple factors related to epidemic dynamics.
• Study resiliency factors of people living in environments with high incidence of HIV, STIs and other health conditions to better understand how people successfully avoid contracting HIV infection.

-Reform HIV prevention financing.

• Provide local and state health authorities with greater flexibility to synergistically use federal funds across disease and program functions, to test innovative prevention approaches, and to better integrate HIV prevention into other prevention efforts.
• Recognize and address the lack of financing systems for critical functions like routine testing, STI screening and other clinical prevention services, or for potential new prevention interventions including pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) and the use of HIV treatment for HIV prevention. (These potential new interventions should augment, but not replace, core prevention strategies already operating at an insufficient scale.)
• In creating your Strategy, consider HIV prevention resources across federal agencies, and consider how to use these resources to maximum impact.

-Coordinate HIV prevention work across federal agencies.

• Establish regular high-level inter-agency coordination meetings or calls and require federal agencies to provide specific examples of how they have improved coordination to advance progress towards Strategy goals every six months.
• Ensure that HIV is included in any national prevention strategy (developed as part of health reform legislation) that coordinates federal agency efforts on health promotion.
• Encourage greater coordination of resources between CMS, HRSA, CDC, SAMHSA, NIH, VA, HUD and other agencies critical to HIV prevention.
• Consider creating a lead coordinating office for HIV prevention (or the full HIV/AIDS response) across federal agencies. One option is to expand the role of ONAP so that it has more a more explicit program coordination role and more authority to coordinate agency efforts.

3) Implement interventions that will change the trajectory of the epidemic in the United States.

Accomplish immediate impact --
-Launch major initiatives to reduce incidence among groups that bear the greatest burden in the epidemic.

• Presidential initiatives are needed to address HIV among gay men, other MSM and transgender people of all races and ethnicities; and Black women and men. These initiatives should be true strategies with their own targets and adequate resources for reaching their goals.
• The initiative for Black women and men must help build sustainable infrastructure in Black communities; encourage development of prevention programming by these communities; integrate HIV testing, prevention, treatment and care services; and invest in encouraging the Black community to take increased ownership of the HIV epidemic in Black America.
• One aspect of the gay/MSM/transgender initiative must be an effort to reduce homophobia, and should include statements from you personally.
• Establish an Office of LGBT Health at NIH and at HHS to support and coordinate health research and programming for this population.
• Expand tailored prevention services to other populations at elevated risk including incarcerated persons, Latinos, and women of color.

-Bring effective HIV prevention strategies to scale so they can achieve population-level impact. Too often effective interventions are not implemented widely enough to have measurable impact on incidence.

• With what we know today, it is possible to virtually eliminate HIV incidence among injection drug users; a campaign utilizing syringe exchange, substitution therapy (e.g. methadone), and other program and policy approaches should be launched to accomplish this goal within five years.
• Scale up of prevention is needed with resources being allocated commensurate with incidence, and among people living with HIV, gay/bisexual/MSM/transgender people, Blacks, Latinos, incarcerated persons, women of color and others.
• Assure voluntary HIV testing services are readily available, particularly to people at elevated risk of infection
• Determine whether a Test and Treat strategy and/or pre-exposure prophylaxis can be effective and cost-effective in reducing incidence.

Accomplish long term and sustainable impact --

-Recognize and act on the social and structural factors that drive vulnerability to infection.

• Through the Strategy process and using best practice methodologies, conduct a systematic review of potential social drivers of the epidemic in our nation (including poverty, lack of housing, imprisonment, marginalization of LGBT youth) and recommend strategies to address the pathways through which these affect HIV incidence
• Create Health Renewal Zones. Provide an array of behavioral, social and structural interventions for those structural factors which create vulnerability to HIV, other STIs and other health conditions. Include careful evaluation of the impact of these zones on HIV and other health outcomes over a five-year period. (This concept is consistent with Health Empowerment Zones proposed in House health reform legislation.)
• Consider establishing primary prevention centers -- linked to clinical care, housing, employment, nutrition and other services -- where people in high impact communities can access a range of disease prevention services.
• Incorporate a social justice approach to HIV prevention by speaking out on issues of stigma and discrimination affecting PLWHA and those at risk, and develop programs that incorporate HIV prevention, including anti-stigma and discrimination components, into other services.
• Assure equal health rights for women, including removal of limits on comprehensive reproductive services through health reform legislation.
• Develop a comprehensive model of working closely with businesses and neighborhoods that have a role in preventing HIV and STDs, including the alcohol industry, internet sites, neighborhood based prevention services, and others

-Rebuild our nation’s public health infrastructure so that it can provide HIV/AIDS and a range of health services to all who need them.

• Create a Public Health Investment Fund with a dedicated funding stream that will support state and local public health programs to reduce HIV incidence and empower individuals and communities to improve and protect their health.
• Design and implement a plan to ensure access to and availability of HIV testing and associated services in all areas of public health services in order to reach disparate populations affected by HIV, including women and rural populations.
• Recreate programs such as the Public Health Advisor Program or similar programs proposed in health reform legislation to address critical workforce challenges across state and local public health agencies.

Mr. President, your Strategy is an exciting opportunity to refocus attention on the domestic HIV/AIDS epidemic and make dramatic progress in reducing HIV incidence in our nation. We look forward to working with you and your staff to create a much more coordinated, accountable, and outcomes-oriented response to HIV/AIDS at home. Please feel free to contact Chris Collins (chris.collins@amfar.org) and Julie Davids (jdavids@champnetwork.org) with any questions or comments about our ideas.

Sincerely,

Adaora Adimora, MD, MPH
UNC School of Medicine

Deborah Arrindell
American Social Health Association

Judith D. Auerbach, PhD
San Francisco AIDS Foundation

Cornelius Baker
National Black Gay Men’s Advocacy Coalition

Douglas M. Brooks, MSW
JRI Health/Sidney Borum Jr. Health Center

Christopher Brown, MBA, MPH
Chicago Department of Public Health

Chris Collins, MPP
amfAR, The Foundation for AIDS Research

Kevin Cranston, MDiv
Massachusetts Department of Public Health

Don C Des Jarlais, PhD
Beth Israel Medical Center

Dazon Dixon Diallo, MPH
SisterLove, Inc.

Julie Davids
Community HIV/AIDS Mobilization Project (CHAMP)

Anna Ford
Urban Coalition for HIV/AIDS Prevention Services

Jennifer Hecht, MPH
STOP AIDS Project

Ernest Hopkins
San Francisco AIDS Foundation


David Holtgrave, PhD
Baltimore MD

Ronald Johnson
AIDS Action Council

Venton C. Jones Jr., MSHCAD
United Black Ellument (U-BE), UCSF – CAPS

Thomas M. Liberti
Florida Department of Health

Charles W. Martin
South Beach AIDS Project


Jean Flatley McGuire, PhD, MA
MA Executive Office of Health and Human Services

Jesse Milan, Jr., JD
Altarum Institute

David Ernesto Munar
AIDS Foundation of Chicago

Carl Schmid
The AIDS Institute

Julie M. Scofield
National Alliance of State & Territorial AIDS Directors

J. Walton Senterfitt, PhD, RN, MPH
Community HIV/AIDS Mobilization Project (CHAMP)

Ron Simmons, PhD
Us Helping Us, People Into Living, Inc.

William Smith
SIECUS

Ron Stall, PhD, MPH
University of Pittsburgh

Patrick Sullivan, DVM, PhD
Emory University

Dana Van Gorder
Project Inform

Vallerie D. Wagner, MS
AIDS Project Los Angeles

Craig Washington, MSW
AID Atlanta, Inc.

Phill Wilson
Black AIDS Institute

A. Toni Young
Community Education Group

* Institutions are listed for identification only.

Cc: Kathleen Sebelius, Secretary, Health and Human Services
Melody Barnes, Director, Domestic Policy Council
Jeff Crowley, Director, Office of National AIDS Policy
Helene Gayle, Chair, President’s Advisory Council on HIV and AIDS

Sign Up To Get Updates By Email & Join Us On Facebook - Twitter - Myspace

The National AIDS Strategy Town Meeting in Seattle is next week!

I know we posted this not that long ago, but now the meeting is next week!

Wednesday, December 9, 2009 Assist Secretary of Health (DHHS), Dr. Howard Koh and Director Christopher Bates (Office of HIV/AIDS Policy) will be in town for a Community Town Hall on the National AIDS Policy. The event will take place from 6:30-8:00 PM at the Asian Counseling and Referral Services building at 3639 Martin Luther King Jr. Way South. Free parking is avaliable

Lifelong AIDS Alliance staff has been working hard preparing what they want to share at the meeting, and we would love to have you join us. Come prepared with a story to share and your ideas on what the Obama administration should have in the new national AIDS strategy. The event is free and open to the public. We hope to see you there!

Sign Up To Get Updates By Email & Join Us On Facebook - Twitter - Myspace

National AIDS Strategy Town Hall in Seattle.

SAVE THE DATE!!!

Wednesday, December 9, 2009 Assist Secretary of Health (DHHS), Dr. Howard Koh and Director Christopher Bates (Office of HIV/AIDS Policy) will be in town for a Community Town Hall on the National AIDS Policy. The event will take place from 6:30-8:00 PM at the Asian Counseling and Referral Services building at 3639 Martin Luther King Jr. Way South.

Come prepared with a story to share and your ideas on what the Obama administration should have in the new national AIDS strategy. The event is free and open to the public. We hope to see you there!

Sign Up To Get Updates By Email & Join Us On Facebook - Twitter - Myspace

BABES Focus Group

Sign Up To Get Updates By Email & Join Us On Facebook - Twitter - Myspace

The Election is Amost Here!

Ballots arrived in Washington mailboxes late last week. These ballots have serious implications on how our fine state will handle HIV prevention and services to those living with HIV/AIDS.

Your ballot has two important questions on it. The first is Tim Eyman’s Initiative-1033. Lifelong AIDS Alliance has taken a stand against Tim Eyman’s latest initiative, 1033, and we want to remind you to vote NO and mail in your ballot right away. I-1033 would lock in this year's recession-level budgets for the state, counties, and cities, and use them as baselines for all future spending.

I-1033 is based on a similar measure that was tried in Colorado, with disastrous consequences. In fact, it did so much damage to Colorado's health care system, education, and economy that voters suspended the law in 2005.

We can't let that happen here. Eyman's I-1033 would devastate Washington State residents, especially those living with HIV/AIDS - and it will take all of us to stand up and say NO on 1033.

Some voters in King County have had problems locating I-1033 in the lower left corner below the instructions. It is important that nobody miss voting against this devastating Eyman initiative.

Referendum 71 is the other statewide question on the ballot. R-71, if approved would expand domestic partnership rights to be equal to those of marriage, except that domestic partnerships are not marriage.

Ballots must be post marked by Tuesday, November 3. Check out http://www.waballotguide.com/?src=LAA to find out more about both of these statewide questions and more information on county propositions.

Sign Up To Get Updates By Email & Join Us On Facebook - Twitter - Myspace

Vote NO on I 1033

Vote NO on Initiative 1033

Initiative 1033 will be on the ballot in Washington State in November 2009. This Initiative may sound good on the surface, but truth is that I-1033 actually decreases the amount of money that will be spent on education, health care, and economic security. A similar initiative was passed in Colorado in 1992 and after seeing the damaging affects that have occurred there, no other state has approved this type of initiative. Since Colorado passed this initiative they have become one of the nation’s poorest funded and poorest performing states and currently rank at 47th in the nation’s K-12 education funding. Colorado’s teachers have the lowest pay in the nation and immunizations have also fallen to one of the lowest nationwide.
I-1033 limits the amount of revenue that the government is allotted to spend. This amount is calculated by the current inflation plus the population growth. Any revenue made above this amount is given back in property tax cuts. The problem with this is that the inflation costs are measured by the change in price of consumer products, not in the prices that government spends on services. Another problem is in the way that the population is measured. The population part of the equation looks at the general population ignoring key changes in population such as the increasing number of uninsured people and the increase of retirees due to the baby boomers. This equation also leaves no room for unanticipated costs such as natural disasters, unfunded mandates, and emerging public priorities. I-1033 fails to keep up with the costs of retirees, education, public safety, etc. During times of recession I-1033’s negative affects are even more detrimental. This is because the equation is so limiting that the government cannot spend enough money to work out of a recession leaving unemployment rates high and the economy turning slowly.
If I-1033 were to pass in November 2009 it would constrict the government’s ability to make essential public investments, worsen the effects of the economic downturn, and increase the current deficit by nearly half a billion dollars. For more information visit the "No on 1033" website at: http://www.no1033.com/Sign Up To Get Updates By Email & Join Us On Facebook - Twitter - Myspace

Just a few short days until the Candidate Forum.

Just a reminder that this Tuesday, October 6th is the Human Services Candidate Forum. The forum presented by the Seattle Human Services Coalition will begin at 5:45 PM at the Miller Community Center. Doors open at 5:30 and the program includes Seattle Mayoral race, Seattle City Council Positions 2, 4, 6, 8, City Attorney and King County Executive. Refreshments and snacks will be provided, as well as free onsite childcare and ASL interpreters if requested.

The event is free and open to the public, but please RSVP so that they know how many people they can expect to be there. You can RSVP at shsc@shscoalition.org or 206.325.7105

The Seattle Human Services Coalition has also put together a voter guide that offers responses from candidates in Seattle and King county regarding human services. You can read it here. Check it out before you join us at the Candidate Forum.

We at Lifelong AIDS Alliance hope to see you there and hope that you all vote in this important election.

Also, check out these other community forums leading up to the election:

2009 Affordable Housing Candidates Forum
October 8th, 12 - 2pm
Youngstown Cultural Center
4408 Delridge Way SW, Seattle WA
rsvp @ 206.682.9541 orhdc@housingconsortium.org
presented by the Housing Development Consortium

Seattle City Council & Mayor's Forum
October 8th, 5:30 - 8pmNew Holly Community Center
4054 32nd Ave. S, Seattle WA
presented by One America

Homelessness & Housing Candidates Forum
October 15th, 9am - 12pm
YWCA Opportunity Place
202 3rd Ave., Seattle WA
presented by Seattle King County Coalition on Homelessness & Housing Development Consortium



Sign Up To Get Updates By Email & Join Us On Facebook - Twitter - Myspace

2009 Human Services Candidates Forum

SAVE THE DATE!

2009 Human Services Candidates Forum

Lifelong AIDS Alliance would like to invite you to a Human Services Candidate Forum to be held on the evening of Tuesday, October 6th from 5:30-8:00PM at the Miller Community Center. The event is free and open to the public.

Lifelong AIDS Alliance, as a member of the Seattle Human Services Coalition, is partnering with a number of local community organizations to bring you this event, which will feature the candidates for Seattle Mayor, Seattle Council (Pos. 4,6,8), Seattle City Attorney and King County Executive.

Lifelong AIDS Alliance, the Seattle Human Services Coalition, and other member of the SHSC do not make endorsements or recommendations or show any preference for or against any candidate. This effort constitutes nonpartisan voter education allowed under state and federal law.

Join us for an opportunity to learn the candidates’ positions on critical human service issues before the November elections.

Sign Up To Get Updates By Email & Join Us On Facebook - Twitter - Myspace

Seattle AIDS Walk A3D Team!

Summer is coming to an end, and among other things, that means it’s AIDS Walk time!

Steve, John, and Marc, the fabulous co-chairs of Lifelong’s Public Policy Committee, have formed a Walk Team: “Friends of A3D and Public Policy.”

Please click the link below if you are interested in joining or supporting. We would love to have as many of you get involved and help in our fundraising and awareness raising efforts. Your support as a walker, donor, or volunteer is deeply appreciated.

The Seattle AIDS Walk - Saturday, September 26th in Seattle’s Volunteer Park – is a 5K walk & run of support and remembrance through the streets of Seattle. Please join us as we honor 23 years of walking to fight HIV and AIDS in the Puget Sound region.

We are currently working to identify what elected officials are able to attend this year’s Walk. Please help spread the word and consider joining our team. All are welcome!!!

Join and support the “Friends of A3D & Public Policy” Walk Team: http://www.lifelongevents.org/site/TR/Events/General?team_id=12350&pg=team&fr_id=1230

Sign Up To Get Updates By Email & Join Us On Facebook - Twitter - Myspace

URGENT ACTION ALERT: Act NOW to Defeat Syringe Exchange Amendment!

The following action alert comes to us from our friends at AIDS Action:

Amendment to Ban Federal Syringe Exchange Funding on House Floor

A House amendment to the Labor, Health and Human Services, and Education bill is scheduled for floor debate, and may take place as early as tomorrow morning (July 24). Today, the Rules Committee approved an amendment by Representative Mark Souder (R-IN) which prohibits HHS funding for programs which distribute sterile needles or syringes for hypodermic injection of any illegal drug. If this amendment passes it will almost certainly ban federal funding of syringe exchange in the U.S. and may disrupt current syringe exchange operations. Syringe exchange saves lives!

This pernicious amendment must be defeated NOW!

Take immediate action to prevent the defeat of syringe exchange programs.! Click HERE to E-mail your Representative NOW!

Brought to you by Lifelong AIDS Alliance's Communities in Action Network

Sign Up To Get Updates By Email & Join Us On Facebook - Twitter - Myspace

ACTION ALERT: HIV Travel Ban Repeal

Great news!

The Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) are proposing the removal of HIV infection from the list of diseases that can keep people who are not U.S. citizens from entering the United States.

On Thursday, July 2nd, HHS and the CDC published a notice in the Federal Register that it intends to repeal the HIV travel and immigration ban.

The public now has until August 17th to submit comments and voice support for the proposed change in regulations.

Please take a few minutes to voice your support for the ending of this needless discrimination against people living with HIV!

Click HERE to take action today!

The CDC is welcoming public support for the removal of this ban, and HIV/AIDS advocates around the country are making their voices heard. Stand up and be counted among them!

Brought to you by Lifelong AIDS Alliance's Communities in Action Network

Sign Up To Get Updates By Email & Join Us On Facebook - Twitter - Myspace

ACTION ALERT: Support Nurtition and the Ryan White CARE Act!

Last month in Atlanta, hundreds of AIDS and nutrition advocates joined ANSA (Association of Nutrition Services Agencies) in showing their support for the power of medically appropriate food and nutrition services for people living with HIV/AIDS (PLWHA) in the soon-to-be extended Ryan White program.

Hundreds of advocates from around the country have already signed on to the letter below to be sent to their US Senators and Members of Congress.

Will you join them?

Place your name amongst those who support ANSA's position for inclusion of medically appropriate food and nutrition services as a permissible core medical service!

Click HERE to view this action alert!

But don't stop there!

Please forward this to 4 of your friends and urge them to do the same. We already have incredible support from across the country, but we want everyone in Congress to know how imperative having access to food and nutrition is for PLWHA.

Thank you for all you to do ensure our vulnerable neighbors across the country have access to food, treatment and comfort!

Brought to you by Lifelong AIDS Alliance's Communities in Action Network

Sign Up To Get Updates By Email & Join Us On Facebook - Twitter - Myspace

ACTION ALERT for King Co. Residents!

Good news! We have an option for progress on dedicated funds for human services in King County, but we must act quickly and decisively to urge electeds to implement it!

The King County Council's Law, Justice, Health, and Human Services Committee met Tuesday afternoon to consider options for continued County funding of human services beyond 2009. One of these options would dedicate a specific portion of the general fund to human services on an ongoing basis.

The Office of Management and Budget (OMB) is currently projecting a $46 million general fund deficit in 2010. That figure is expected to increase as revenues to the general fund decrease. 2010 budget instructions from OMB issued in March directed a preliminary general fund reduction of 10.83% across all County departments and agencies. OMB also indicated that services mandated by State law will be prioritized over services that are not mandated and that items in the "lifeboat" which were funded for six months are to be eliminated in 2010. Consequently, 2010 will bring another year of reductions to the County's general fund contribution to human services.

The County cut nearly 35% of its general fund out of human services in 2009, which equated to a greater than $6 million reduction from 2008. The 2009 general fund contribution to human services equaled $11, 409,380, whereas the projected 2010 general fund contribution to human services totals merely $7,007,045.

While this is just a preliminary estimate intended to show the range of potential general fund reductions to human services, we must speak up NOW to help fight against these cuts.

The King County Alliance for Human Services supports dedicating 2-4% of the county's general fund annually to human services. In 2009, with a General Fund budget of $630 million, this would have resulted in $12.6 million to $25.2 million for urgently needed human services.

We have a window of opportunity now to show massive support for this plan, and potentially also impact Council action on the human services funding in the "lifeboat" for the second half of 2009. (They won't vote to fund those services for 6 more months of 2009 if they will just have to cut them in 2010. This strategy of dedicating funds to human services would provide the funds to continue the services in 2010.)

The Council will vote on Tuesday morning next week about the lifeboat funding, so we must get a tsunami of support for dedicated funds to human services into their offices this week.

Call your King County Councilmember TODAY!

Call the Councilmember representing your district and each Councilmember who has any constituents using your services!

Don't know which Councilmember to call? Click HERE to find out!

King County Councilmembers
Bob Ferguson District 1 296-1001
Larry Gossett District 2 296-1002
Kathy Lambert District 3 296-1003
Larry Phillips District 4 296-1004
Julia Patterson District 5 296-1005
Jane Hague District 6 296-1006
Pete von Reichbauer District 7 296-1007
Dow Constantine District 8 296-1008
Reagan Dunn District 9 296-1009

Phone Call Talking Points:
-King County is known across the country as a leader and an innovator. Leadership and innovation is exactly what is called for now. '

-King County has created clear policies stating that, "King County will seek to build and sustain a coordinated regional human services system to provide services, supports, safety and opportunity to those most in need."

-For this reason I would like to urge Councilmember __________ to take action to align the County's general fund support with your policy decisions by setting aside 2-4% of the general fund on an ongoing basis for a base level of human services annually.

This is a window of opportunity that will not reappear. ACT NOW!

Sign Up To Get Updates By Email & Join Us On Facebook - Twitter - Myspace

May 30th March for Health Care

"Health care reform cannot wait, it must not wait, and it will not wait another year."

-President Barack Obama

NOW is the time for health care reform. Tens of thousands of people die every year in this country because of a lack of health coverage. Countless others struggle under crushing medical debt or suffer through treatable illnesses.

Health care reform won't happen without a grassroots movement.

On May 30th in Seattle, we will answer President Obama's call and send a strong message to everyone in the nation that Washington State is united in the fight for health care reform for ALL in 2009.

And we need you!

Plan to join us on Saturday May 30 at 12:30 in Pratt Park for an action packed afternoon filled with music, speakers and most importantly, the message that health care for all can not wait.

Major marches and rallies have influenced policy makers throughout the history of our country, and now is the time to demonstrate the will of the people and raise the demand for quality, affordable health care for all.

Click HERE for more information on this event. Hope to see you there!

Sign Up To Get Updates By Email & Join Us On Facebook - Twitter - Myspace

ACTION ALERT!

Speak Out Against the Syringe Funding Ban!

Last week, President Obama released his Fiscal Year 2010 budget request. Unfortunately, his budget still includes the language that bans the use of federal funding for syringe exchange programs, despite their proven effectiveness in preventing new HIV and hepatitis C infections.

In response, the Community AIDS and Hepatitis Prevention Act of 2009 (HR 179), has been re-introduced in Congress.

This act would eliminate all laws which prevent federal funding from being used by state and local jurisdictions for syringe exchange.

This is a critical time - if we speak up NOW, we can still lift the ban this year!

Urge your US Representative to Co-Sponsor HR 179, the Community AIDS and Hepatitis Prevention Act of 2009!

Click HERE to take action on this issue

What's At Stake?

Each year, approximately 12,000 Americans contract HIV/AIDS and approximately 19,000 Americans contract the hepatitis C virus directly or indirectly from sharing contaminated syringes.

Making clean, sterile syringes available is a simple, cost-effective method of saving lives and providing care to hard-to-reach populations.

But since 1988, there has been a Congressional ban on the use of federal funds for Syringe Exchange Programs nationwide. Last year, Congress lifted the ban that forbid Washington D. C. from using its local tax dollars to support syringe exchange in the city itself.

Now we need the ban lifted on federal funding for the whole nation!

To see the full text of HR 179, please click here.

This action alert brought to you by Lifelong's Communities in Action Network.

Sign Up To Get Updates By Email & Join Us On Facebook - Twitter - Myspace

Help make White House Conference on Food and Nutrition a reality!

ANSA is thrilled to announce that Representatives James McGovern and Jo Ann Emerson have recently re-introduced legislation calling for a White House Conference on Food and Nutrition to be held by December 31, 2010.

We have long-advocated for such a conference to address how the United States will meet the nutritional needs of the more than 36 million Americans who experience food insecurity – including more than 5 million seniors and critically ill men, women and children.

We need your help to build support for the White House Conference!

Please make a call to urge your Representative to sign on as a co-sponsor of H.R. 1869, a bill requiring a White House Conference on Food and Nutrition, to be held by December 31, 2010. Please call the Capitol switchboard at 202-224-3121 and ask for your Representative’s office. (Click here to find out who your Representative is.)

Please let us know when you’ve placed your calls so we can follow up and ensure strong support for this legislation. Email Mat Gulick if you have any questions about ANSA, our advocacy work or a proposed White House Conference on Food and Nutrition.

Sign Up To Get Updates By Email & Join Us On Facebook - Twitter - Myspace

Action Alert: Urge your legislators to support the House Proposed Budget for HIV/AIDS!

The Washington State House and Senate just came out with their proposed budgets last week, and it is imperative that we make our voices heard immediately and give input to our legislators as they begin to discuss these proposals.

Email your state Senator and Representatives today to urge them to support the House Proposed Budget for HIV/AIDS!

Click HERE to participate in this advocacy campaign!

What's At Stake?

While both the Senate and the House have proposed major cuts to HIV/AIDS services in Washington State, the cuts the HIV/AIDS community will face in the House budget will be less drastic to direct client services.

Senate Budget HIV/AIDS Proposals
Cap HIV Early Intervention Program (EIP) at 95% of current expenditures
--> $3 million cut
Reduce AIDSNet Grants by 20%
--> $3 million cut

House Budget HIV/AIDS Proposals
Cap HIV Early Intervention Program (EIP) at 98% of current expenditures
--> $1 million cut
Reduce AIDSNet Grants
--> $1.1 million cut in administrative costs
--> Responsibility for AIDSNets to be assumed by Department of Health

In the House budget, the cap on EIP is less and the cut to the AIDSNets is to the administrative costs not to the services provided. We are cautious about the Department of Health taking on the responsibility of the AIDSNets but will do our best to work with the Department to make the transition go smoothly.

Sign Up To Get Updates By Email & Join Us On Facebook - Twitter - Myspace

Budget update from Lifelong's lobbyist, Carey Morris

To begin with this is my very first time writing anything for a blog. Be patient with me. I am a working Mom with two little kids I barely have time to check my email much less participate in the online world. That said, I am so excited to have the opportunity to thank everyone who came to Olympia in February to participate in A3D. It is one of my favorite days down here (that and potato day, no offense but they pass out free baked potatoes so they win). I loved seeing everyone come from around the State to talk about the importance of HIV/AIDS programs in their communities. It has such an impact with the Legislators. I cannot tell you how many people approached me after to say how impressed they were with the constituents who came in their offices. So thank you. I could not do what I do down here without YOU! Elected officials have to know that protecting HIV/AIDS programs is a priority to their districts.

We are beginning our fourth month of Legislative Session - the home stretch. The final gavel will come down no later then April 26th to indicate the end. It has been a very difficult session. In the next three weeks the Legislature has to figure out how to pass a budget with a $9 billion deficit. Nope, I didn't make a mistake that is billion with a big 'ol "B". It is a staggering task to try to put together a document that both protects the core functions of government and the safety net for vulnerable people. I do not envy them. The budget that the Legislators will vote on will not have any new revenue in it - that means that they have to find $9 billion to cut out of current programs. We are in uncharted territory.

This week the Senate and House released back to back budgets - both included some devastating cuts. For HIV/AIDS programs the Senate budget placed a cap on the EIP (Early Intervention Program) at 95% of current expenditures, about $3 million and reduced AIDSnet grants by 20% another $3 million. The House budget capped EIP at 98%, about $1 million and reduced the AIDSnets by $1.1 million BUT eliminated the administration of the regional AIDSnets and had the Department of Health assume the responsibility. Our goal is to limit the amount of direct client services that will get cut by the proposed budgets and although we are cautious about DOH's capacity to take on the additional workload of the AIDSnets, we see the House budget as a better option.

That being said I need your help - nope your involvement in this process did not end when you drove out of Olympia after A3D, sorry. I am encouraging you to contact your Legislators again. If you don't know who represents you go to www.leg.wa.gov and put in your address. Please email them the following message (feel free to put in your own words):

I am writing to you today as your constituent to ask you to support the House Proposed Budget for HIV/AIDS funding.While both the House and Senate budgets propose cuts to HIV/AIDS services, specifically the Early Intervention program and the regional AIDSNets, the cuts the HIV/AIDS community will face in the House budget will be less drastic to direct client services.During these challenging economic times, please do your part to preserve as much funding as possible for those most at risk in our state.Please remember to be polite. It has been a rough couple days (actually a rough couple months) down here for everyone. If you are writing a Representative say Thank You for their proposal and let them know you understand they had to make difficult decisions and you really appreciate what they have done. A few kind words go a long way. Also, include your address so they know you are a constituent.

Although it was a relief to see that neither proposed budget eliminated our core programs, we are a long way from the final document. In case you haven't heard it before - each day in Olympia is a like a month. We need to keep up the contact until Legislators are packing up their offices to leave town.

I am so very honored to be working on the HIV/AIDS issues with you in Olympia. Your voices are being heard and respected here. Thank you for taking the time to be part of the process. I know the political process can be frustrating and confusing - but each time you take the time to educate an elected official or come to the Capitol it gets a little easier to understand and get involved. Trust me it makes a difference. I could go on and on about this - seriously remember I talk for a living plus I love the political process - it is important.

Thank you,

Carey Morris

Sign Up To Get Updates By Email & Join Us On Facebook - Twitter - Myspace

Voices in Action: Strengthening HIV/AIDS Community Leadership

*Please note: date and time changed from original post!

It's now been over a month since AIDS Awareness & Action Day, and the escalating $9 billion state budget deficit has made the fight to save HIV/AIDS services in Washington State tougher every day.

Want to stay involved and continue to build your advocacy skills? Come add your voice to the discussion about how we can work together to protect the HIV/AIDS services that matter the most!

Join us for the April meeting of:

Voices in Action
Strengthening HIV/AIDS Community Leadership
Thursday, April 2nd
5:30 pm
at
MOMS Pharmacy
1017 E. Union Street
(below the Lifelong Thrift Store)

Join others in our community interested in advocacy- together we can work to make our voices heard!

Please contact us to RSVP or for more information. Thanks, and we look forward to seeing you!

Bonnie Lenneman, Lifelong AIDS Alliance Advocacy Coordinator bonniel@llaa.org
Caitlin Sullivan, BABES Network-YWCA Advocacy Coordinator caitlin@babesnetwork.org


Sponsored by:





Sign Up To Get Updates By Email & Join Us On Facebook - Twitter - Myspace

Great Seattle P-I article about Bailey-Boushay House

Check out this article about Bailey-Boushay House just published by the Seattle Post-Intellingencer:

Nursing home for AIDS patients faces funding crisis

Please take a few moments to call your state senator and representatives to let them know that funding for Bailey-Boushay House is critical for those who depend upon its services.

You can ook up your legislators' contact information here: Legislative roster

Don't know who your legislators are? Follow this link to find your legislative district


Sign Up To Get Updates By Email & Join Us On Facebook - Twitter - Myspace

Check out our A3D picture from the Senate floor!

Look at all those beautiful and amazing advocates who came to AIDS Awareness & Action Day! Thank you, Sen. Murray's office, for providing us with this picture!

If you would like an electronic copy of this photo, please email bonniel@llaa.org.

Sign Up To Get Updates By Email & Join Us On Facebook - Twitter - Myspace

Speak up NOW to protect HIV/AIDS services in Washington State!

Our work has only just begun! Urge your state legislators to protect funding for HIV/AIDS services in Washington State!

Even if you weren't able to join us in person for AIDS Awareness and Action Day, you can still tell your state legislators that you support HIV/AIDS care, treatment, support services and prevention.

With just the click of a button, you can take action and send an email to your state legislators highlighting your support of AIDS Awareness & Action Day and the services we're fighting to protect. Participate in Virtual AIDS Awareness & Action Day NOW!

What’s at stake this year?
1. HIV/ADS Care Services (EIP) – 13.2% cut = $3M
2. Nutrition Services in Pierce, Snohomish, Kitsap Counties, 200+ PLWHA at risk of losing weekly food deliveries – eliminated = $0.5M cut
3. Prevention Programs – 10% cut = $1.5M
4. Bailey Boushay Adult Day Health program = $1.1M cut
5. Nursing home services for Medicaid patients: Rosehedge, Bailey Boushay = a loss of $60,000 - $290,000 per year

Total cuts: $7,000,000

It’s up to us to make sure our elected officials understand the impacts these cuts will have on our community!

Sign Up To Get Updates By Email & Join Us On Facebook - Twitter - Myspace

Attend a town hall meeting this weekend!

Attend a Town Hall Meeting with Your State Legislators!

Many state legislators will be holding "town hall" meetings this weekend to talk about the state budget deficit and other legislative issues. Legislators pay close attention to the number of constituents who show up and express concern about each issue, so please take this opportunity to speak up!

Plan to attend your local meeting if you can, and hear from your legislators in person. If you have the opportunity to ask a question or make a comment, please talk about the importance of continued state funding for HIV/AIDS programs and other critical areas of the social safety net. Mention a short personal story or share the experience of individuals you have worked with, and ask your legislators how they will make sure necessary services are funded, even with the current budget deficit.

Most of the district meetings will take place this Saturday, March 14. Some are on March 13, and others may be later in the month. If you don't see your district listed as hosting an event, contact your legislators' offices and ask if they have any upcoming meetings planned with constituents.

To find out which district you live in, go to www.leg.wa.gov and click on the "Find Your District" tab.

If you already know your district number and want to find contact information for your state legislators, go to www.leg.wa.gov and click on the Senate or House of Representatives link. Remember, each district has one Senator and two Representatives.

For Republican legislators, please use the links above to find out more information on their town hall meetings. For Democratic legislators, you may check either the House Democrats town hall list or the Senate Democrats town hall list for a complete listing of meetings.

Please attend if you are able, and be sure to encourage everyone you know to speak up during this particularly difficult legislative session!


Sign Up To Get Updates By Email & Join Us On Facebook - Twitter - Myspace

Action Alert - Support passage of the Omnibus Appropriations Bill!

Urgent action alert from AIDS Action in Washington, D.C.!

Call Your Senators TODAY!

Urge them to Pass the Fiscal Year 2009 Omnibus Appropriations Bill to secure critical increases to HIV programs and funding for a National AIDS Strategy.

The Senate is currently considering the Fiscal Year 2009 (FY09) Omnibus legislation. This Omnibus Appropriations Bill includes funding for the majority of domestic HIV/ AIDS program. The Omnibus legislation increases the Ryan White Program by $71.6 million, HOPWA by $10 million and the National Institutes of Health by $938 million. It decreases ineffective Abstinence-only programs by $14 million. Within the Financial Services and General Government account, the Omnibus appropriates $1.4 million to the White House to develop the National AIDS Strategy. It is imperative that the Senate pass the FY 2009 Omnibus without amendment this week to ensure that funding is increased for these and other vital programs that impact people living with or affected by HIV/AIDS.

If the Senate does not pass the Omnibus, a Continuing Resolution at FY 2008 funding levels will likely be enacted. This means flat funding for domestic HIV/AIDS Programs and no funding for the development of a National AIDS Strategy.

Contact Your Senators NOW. CLICK HERE for the full alert, your Senators phone numbers, and talking points for your call. Urge your Senators to Pass the FY09 Omnibus Appropriations bill, which includes critical increases to domestic HIV/AIDS programs and funding for the development of a of National AIDS Strategy.

Sign Up To Get Updates By Email & Join Us On Facebook - Twitter - Myspace

Equality Day 2009

Mark March 12, 2009 on your calendar now for Equality Day in Olympia!

Equality Day 2009 will be an opportunity for Washingtonians—gay and straight--to gather together in Olympia and lobby our legislators in support of full marriage equality, expanded rights for registered domestic partners, safer schools, preserving HIV/AIDS services and prevention funding, and other issues of importance to the LGBT and allied community. As in years past we'll have a noontime rally!

Register Today for Equality Day 2009!

Registration for Equality Day is now open and early registration helps us secure meetings for you with your legislators.

Equality Day is organized by Equal Rights Washington (ERW) and its faith based initiative, the Religious Coalition for Equality (RCE). Equality Day is co-sponsored by dozens of organizations and houses of worship. The theme of this year's Equality Day is "on the road to equality." A schedule for the day and further information can be found on the ERW website.

Please Register today!

Visit the ERW website to find out how you can further help make Equality Day a great success! We can't wait to meet you at the Capital!

New for 2009 will be online grassroots lobby trainings using streaming video.

If you can't attend Equality Day there are plenty of actions you can take now in support of Equality Day, just visit the Equality Day webpage!


Sign Up To Get Updates By Email & Join Us On Facebook - Twitter - Myspace

A3D Evaluations and Surveys

Did you participate in AIDS Awareness & Action Day, but not have a chance to submit feeback or surveys? It's not too late!

Provide feedback! If you weren't able to submit an A3D evaluation form at the event, take a few moments to complete our A3D 2009 Evaluation so we can make our 2011 event an even better experience!

Who participated in A3D? If you did not sumit an Anonymous Participant Survey at A3D, please consider following this link to do so now. The more demographic information we are able to collect about our advocates, the more effectively we can show our elected officials the diversity represented by community.

THANK YOU!

Sign Up To Get Updates By Email & Join Us On Facebook - Twitter - Myspace

HIV/AIDS Providers' Letter to the Governor and House & Senate Leaders

Many of you have requested a copy of the letter read at our Closing Ceremonies by Tim Killian, brother of Rob Killian, MD. Below, please find the sign on letter supported by various members of the HIV/AIDS provider community. This letter was included in each legislative visit and is a heartfelt and concerned stance on the issues at hand with the proposed budget cuts. Please join me in thanking all of those who joined in this effort!


February 18, 2009

The Honorable Chris Gregoire, Governor
Office of the Governor
PO Box 40002
Olympia, WA 98504-0002

The Honorable Frank Chopp
Speaker of the House
339C Legislative Building
PO Box 40600
Olympia, WA 98504-0600

The Honorable Lisa Brown
Senate Majority Leader
307 Legislative Building
PO Box 40403
Olympia, WA 98504-0403


Dear Governor Gregoire, Speaker Chopp, and Majority Leader Brown:

We know that Washington State is facing a profound financial crisis and a record deficit, and that as leaders you will be forced to make difficult choices during your deliberations over the state budget. However, we are writing to you today to implore you to retain funding for the many valuable AIDS and AIDS-related services in the state.

As health care professionals and HIV care providers we are committed to giving care to all who need it regardless of their ability to pay. However, our ability to provide care to those in financial need is directly tied to funding assistance we receive from the state.

As we look out at the landscape we see an ongoing crisis, with providers facing higher infection rates and growing challenges accessing quality care. On AIDS Awareness & Action Day (A3D), February 18, 2009, we will bring several hundred advocates to your offices and the state Capitol to highlight the challenges our community is facing.

On A3D we hope that you will remember that Washington State has been a leader not only in care for people with HIV/AIDS, but in addressing the challenge of covering uninsured children and adults. This state has been a national leader in making sure that the under and uninsured do not go without care or access to medications.

We not only fund the Evergreen Health Insurance Program (EHIP) well, but we fund prevention efforts and we fund the most nutritionally sound food program for the sick in the country. If we cut funding to these programs, all of the progress we have made will have been for nothing, and we face the prospect of turning people away, having some go uninsured and losing access to critical nutrition programs.

As physicians and healthcare providers we know that the uninsured receive care, but they receive it in clinics and emergency rooms when their condition is critical and requires the most costly forms of medical intervention. For every dollar we spend on prevention we save thousands if not hundreds of thousands in treatment costs down the road.

In the midst of a crisis that has tremendous human services implications is not the time tocut prevention efforts. From our perspective as providers who see patients every day, we see the demand for services increasing rather than diminishing.

We believe that our investment in services should be equal to the healthcare challenges confronting the State of Washington. Please do not cut these essential services.


Sincerely,

Robert Killian, MD
Jeffrey Olliffe, MD
Guy Forte, Rph
Darren Augenstein, PharmD
Peter Shalit, MD
David Aboulafia, MD
David Holt, ARNP
Vy Chu, MD
Steven Carzasty, MSW
Steven Burrows, MD
Wayne Dodge, MD
Jamie Hasse, LPN
Pat Hogan, ARNP
Michael Syputa, LPN
Jason Thams, PharmD


Sign Up To Get Updates By Email & Join Us On Facebook - Twitter - Myspace

THANK YOU FOR MAKING A DIFFERENCE! The fight is far from over!

We want to extend a big round of thanks to all of you who came from across the state to attend and support A3D! Thanks also for all the emails and posts from those not able to make it in person. Thanks to you, we had our largest participation ever and created HUGE awareness and presence with legislators. It was a productive day despite the cloud of more disappointing news about the larger deficit projections. Now, more than ever, we must keep our issues at the forefront and keep that amazing energy alive and moving forward throughout the Session.

THE FIGHT IS FAR FROM OVER! In fact, we have only begun. We are assembling all the meeting notes from A3D and following up with each legislator who took the time to visit with us.

Thanks to all who took the time to write their Thank You Notes. If you haven’t yet mailed yours, please do so as soon as possible and stay tuned for more detailed feedback.

Over the coming weeks, you will also be receiving more detailed information about specific ways to engage with your elected officials via the CAN Network. If you are not yet subscribed to this valuable and easy tool, please visit http://www.cannetwork.net/. This is the easiest and most efficient way to stay connected with your respective legislators. On behalf of the entire A3D planning team, thank you again for all your support, feedback, and continued interest to stay involved!

Marc England & Steve Gibbs
Co-Chairs, Public Policy Committee
Lifelong AIDS Alliance/A3D

Sign Up To Get Updates By Email & Join Us On Facebook - Twitter - Myspace

AIDS Awareness & Action Day Pictures Uploaded

You can see the entire album on the Facebook Page

Sign Up To Get Updates By Email & Join Us On Facebook - Twitter - Myspace

AIDS Awareness & Action Day Big Success

A LETTER FROM DAVID RICHART, EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR OF LIFELONG AIDS ALLIANCE

Friends and Supporters of Lifelong AIDS Alliance,

Wednesday, February 18 was AIDS Awareness and Action Day (A3D), our advocacy day at the state capitol. We were fortunate to have 325 attendees representing 43 of 49 districts across Washington. The purpose of A3D was for participants in our state, both those living with HIV/AIDS and those who aren’t to meet with legislators to discuss the need for continued funding for vital programs.

A3D attendees encouraged their legislators to protect and restore $3 million to the HIV Early Intervention Program (EIP) budget. They also encouraged the preservation of $500,000 thousand for Nutrition Services for 200+ low-income individuals living with HIV/AIDS in Pierce, Snohomish and Kitsap Counties. Moreover, legislators were asked to restore cuts to HIV prevention budgets by opposing the $1.5 million cut in AIDS Omnibus Act funding.

During ceremonies throughout the advocacy day, many political officials joined us with some inspiring and supportive words. Among them were Attorney General Rob McKenna, Representative Marko Liias, Representative Jamie Pederson, Representative Jeannie Darneille, Senator Ed Murray, and City Council Members Sally Clark and Tim Burgess. We are thrilled to have bipartisan support for maintaining and increasing current HIV/AIDS funding in Washington state. Over the next few weeks, we look forward to seeing how the budget is balanced, and are optimistic that our efforts will be effective in protecting crucial funding for those living with HIV/AIDS.

Thanks,

David Richart

Sign Up To Get Updates By Email & Join Us On Facebook - Twitter - Myspace

Speaker of the House Frank Chopp

Seattle 43rd Meeting with Senator Murray

Marching to the Capitol

Seattle Capitol Hill 43rd District at A3D

AIDS Action Day with the Seattle 43rd District

45 of 49 districts represented at A3D

Registration at A3D in Olympia

9:30AM ASPEN at AIDS Action Day