The struggle for HIV-positive people to receive adequate medication was the major talking point at the Gay Men’s Health Summit (GMHS) in late August. Several attendees were able to ask questions of health experts and government leaders.
The GMHS is a large, diverse gathering of both men and women who gather in a major U.S. city every year to discuss HIV/AIDS as well as many other issues affecting the overall health and well-being of the LGBT population. The National Summit comes to Florida in a time when there are waiting lists for AIDS Drug Assistance Program funding in the state.
Officials like Christopher H. Bates of the Presidential Advisory Council on HIV/AIDS (PACHA) and Congresswoman Debbie Wasserman Schultz were on hand to discuss the issues.
Some attendees were not aware that a National HIV/AIDS Strategy was released while even a smaller few did not know about the ADAP funding shortages. However, the majority were already informed on those two points but still had specific questions about funding.
The president recently announced a much-needed increase to ADAP funding on top of the previous increase which was criticized by many as insufficient. The previous increase would allot $6.9 million in federal ADAP funds to the State of Florida. It is not yet calculated how much the new increase would add to that but the number will likely be similar.
Even though the increases still fall short of what experts say their funding needs are, matters are further complicated by a failure on the part of Florida legislators to address the issue. Federal legislators from Florida like Wasserman-Schultz and Democratic Senator Bill Nelson have made it known that they wish to see more funding for ADAP. But Governor Charlie Crist and CFO and Democratic gubernatorial candidate Alex Sink have been silent on Florida’s cutbacks to HIV funding.
When pressed for comment, Wasserman Schultz said that Sink would still be “comparatively” more open to resolving the funding crisis on the state level than her opponents in the race.
Editor’s note: Jerritt Terrill is a reporter with the South Florida Gay News and this article is used with permission.
