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New Fla. AIDS Coalition Hopes to Fend Off Budget Cuts by Joseph Erbentraut
EDGE ContributorTuesday Aug 11, 2009 A group of Florida HIV/AIDS advocates have banded together to form a new coalition to lobby state lawmakers for additional prevention and care funding.
HIV infection rates continuing to soar in the Sunshine State, which has the third highest number of reported cases in the United States,
The Florida HIV/AIDS Advocacy Network, part of the AIDS Institute, began meeting earlier this year. The group has been discussing tactics for organizing community leaders and communicating with state legislators on the importance of protecting HIV/AIDS programs.
Most programming emerged unharmed from funding cuts with the budget that emerged from the last state’s legislative session. But activists are not as hopeful for the upcoming 2009-2010 session.
"We wanted to be ready and have the community mobilized so the stories can be told about why these programs are so important and why they need to continue to be funded even in these economic times," said Michael Ruppel, an executive with the AIDS Institute. "It’s easier to have that relationship when there’s not a catastrophe. Our ultimate goal is to be prepared for what we assume will happen with HIV/AIDS funding."
Questions regarding the future of state funding for HIV/AIDS programs are not unfounded, according to a recent example Ruppel shared. The state’s AIDS Insurance Continuation Program provides support to those whose HIV status or AIDS diagnosis proves them in need of aid, Last week, AICP began to place applicants on a waiting list for the first time. The program has been under a "huge strain" due to the state’s staggering unemployment rate, which stands at 10.6 percent as of last count in June, according to news reports.
In response to the unsure climate, the Florida HIV/AIDS Advocacy Network has worked to identify advocates in key areas of the state before targeting specific lawmakers to contact. At their most recent meeting, held in Tampa on Aug. 4, they moved forward with the development of a fact sheet and the start of a communications campaign to reach legislators statewide with statistics highlighting the necessity of HIV/AIDS services. Their efforts are crucial to providers whose resources are already stretched thin.
"A lot of organizations are being inundated with clients and doing so much more with less money," said Ruppel. "They don’t have the time to do advocacy or education, so we want to focus on that. The type of education we really want to do is make sure lawmakers know the facts. HIV/AIDS is still critical, is still an emergency and still needs to be addressed. It is a public health issue."
The facts, indeed, remain disappointingly grim. As of 2008, nearly 90,000 Floridians are living with the disease, according to data from the state Department of Health. Communities at particular risk include men who have sex with men (MSM)--who represent 59 percent of all reported infected males--and the black community. HIV/AIDS is the leading cause of death for black men and women in the state.
Spencer Lieb, senior epidemiologist of the state Department of Health’s Bureau of HIV/AIDS, noted that while today’s rates of infection for African Americans have steadily improved since 1999, major racial disparities continue to persist. Additionally, he shared the department is noticing a "disturbing trend" of increasing cases among white and Hispanic MSM in the state.
Lieb said community-based efforts like the Advocacy Network were important to offset the declining effectiveness of prevention messages with key demographics, including young MSM. He hoped to involve the larger community in efforts to prove the issue salient.
"There’s a good deal of complacency happening around the fact that treatments have improved and survival time from the onset of HIV infection has greatly increased," Lieb said. "But people need to be reminded it’s still a fatal disease. It’s 100 percent preventable. We are trying to get grassroots community action going, because in these resource-scarce times, we need to get the general public involved."
Joseph covers news, arts and entertainment and lives in Chicago.
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