"People in the United States seem to have grown complacent and forgotten that HIV/AIDS is not just a problem overseas, but one here in our own nation. With as many as 1.1 million people in our country living with HIV/AIDS, our government, through passing a new Ryan White CARE Act, must ensure that lifesaving drugs, medical care, and social services are provided to those in need, wherever they live."
"Continued flat funding for CARE Act programs will do little to help eliminate current waiting lists, and nothing to extend care and treatment to people who aren't even on those lists. Instead, it will only serve to pit city against city and state against state for the limited dollars available. A person's ability to receive treatment should not depend upon where in the country they live."
"The Ryan White CARE Act works -- that is why it must be reauthorized. In the devastation following Hurricane Katrina, one of the only bright notes was that the Ryan White/ADAP system in states across the country went into high gear to assure that poor patients could access their life-saving medications. The CARE Act and the systems it has created serve as a model for all medical care in the U.S."
"Ryan taught us that AIDS can strike anyone, anywhere. As we work together to renew the Ryan White CARE Act, I urge the Congress and the Administration to provide adequate funding so that everyone who is in need of these lifesaving medications and medical care, can have the chance to live productive, healthy and longer lives."
"With as many as 1.1 million people in the U.S. living today with HIV/AIDS, and nearly 3 out of 4 of them uninsured or relying on public assistance, the CARE Act for them is a matter of life or death. This media campaign will remind Americans that HIV/AIDS exists in everyone's neighborhood and that despite the success of the Ryan White program, not all Americans have access to lifesaving care and treatment."
"The Ryan White CARE Act has a proven track record of success in providing lifesaving drugs as well as a full range of medical care and support services. The CARE Act is keeping people alive much longer than ever before. It has had strong bipartisan support from Congressional leaders over the years. We expect the same this year -- swift passage of reauthorization legislation this fall."
Resources at The Body:
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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Nov. 28, 2005 |
CONTACT: Damon Thompson, 410-463-0321 Jennifer Devlin, 1-703-876-1714 |
FUTURE OF NATION'S LARGEST HIV/AIDS PROGRAM WILL HIGHLIGHT TOWN HALL MEETING ON DEC. 1, WORLD AIDS DAY
Washington, DC -- The Ryan White ACTION Campaign -- a coalition of four national HIV/AIDS organizations -- will join more than a dozen Middle Tennessee organizations in hosting a World AIDS Day "Town Hall Meeting" at 11:00 am - 1:00 pm (CST) at the United Way of Metropolitan Nashville at 250 Venture Circle. The meeting will bring together area civic leaders, policymakers, persons with HIV/AIDS, health care practitioners and service providers to highlight the impact the Ryan White CARE Act has in the State of Tennessee. The Act, which expired on September 30th, is the major source of funding for care and treatment to HIV/AIDS patients who otherwise could not afford it.
PHOTO OPPORTUNITY: On the same day as the Town Hall Meeting, the Comprehensive Care Center of Nashville will feature a display of 1,100 red-ribboned markers on the grounds of the United Way facility in memory of the 1,100 CCC patients who have died with HIV/AIDS since it opened in 1994.
WHO:
John Havron, Executive Vice President, United Way of Metropolitan Nashville
Jeanece Seals, State AIDS Director
Jim Shulman, Assistant Finance Commissioner, State of Tennessee
Stephanie Bailey, MD, Director of Health-Metro Public Health Department
Drema Mace, MS, CEO-Comprehensive Care Center
Rev. Edwin Sanders, Pastor- Metropolitan Interdenominational Church in Nashville, and member of the President's Advisory Committee on HIV/AIDS
Stephen Raffanti, MD, MPH, Chief Medical Officer-Comprehensive Care Center
Joseph Interrante, PhD, CEO-Nashville Cares
Dave Henricks, Person with HIV/AIDS and Board Member-Comprehensive Care Center
Alan Pinedo, Person with HIV/AIDS-Nashville
Marvelyn Brown, Person with HIV/AIDS-Nashville
NOTE: Other persons with HIV/AIDS, providers, and area leaders have also been invited to speak and participate in a question and answer session with the public that will also be a part of the program.
WHAT:
Town Hall Meeting hosted by the Ryan White ACTION Campaign (www.ryanwhiteaction.org) and nearly two dozen local organizations on the need to reauthorize the Ryan White CARE Act for the care and treatment of people with HIV/AIDS. Town hall will include testimony from members of the community on the impact of the legislation, which expired September 30, 2005.
WHEN:
11:00-1:00 pm on Thursday, December 1, 2005
United Way of Metropolitan Nashville
250 Venture Circle, Nashville, Tennessee
World AIDS Day is a national day of awareness about e United States -- including more than 12,000 in Tennessee -- and the efforts of volunteers, providers and individuals living with HIV and AIDS to lead healthy and productive lives. This year's theme is Stop AIDS-Keep the Promise, and the event will call for keeping the promise to Tenneseans living with HIV/AIDS -- the promise of life-saving health care and supportive services
The Ryan White Comprehensive AIDS Resource Emergency (CARE) Act was first signed into law in 1990, named after a young man whose struggle with HIV/AIDS helped put a public face on what was then an unknown disease. Since then, the CARE Act each year helps provide care and treatment for more than half a million uninsured and underinsured individuals living with HIV/AIDS.
In Tennessee, the dramatic retrenchment in TennCare has left hundreds of thousands of people without access to the state health plan for poor, disabled and elderly Tennesseans, including thousands of persons with HIV/AIDS. Many of the HIV/AIDS beneficiaries were eligible for TennCare as so-called "uninsurables." They now have officially joined the ranks of the uninsured. The state that previously administered one of the nation's most generous Medicaid programs has become a barebones program leaving those who still qualify with limited access to prescription drugs and limits on physician visits and other services. Ryan White-funded Tennessee providers are now grappling to ensure that HIV/AIDS clients can continue to receive the care and services they need to survive and thrive. A reauthorized and adequately funded Ryan White CARE Act could hold the promise for additional resources to fill in the gaps left by the frayed safety net that TennCare has become.
About the Ryan White ACTION Campaign (www.ryanwhiteaction.org)
The Ryan White ACTION Campaign is a national campaign designed to raise awareness about the importance of the Ryan White CARE Act, which expired on September 30th, and why it needs to be reauthorized and adequately funded. Launched by a coalition of medical providers and HIV/AIDS advocacy organizations, including The AIDS Institute, American Academy of HIV Medicine, HIV Medicine Association, and National Alliance of State and Territorial AIDS Directors, the campaign includes the involvement of a number of prominent advocates on HIV/AIDS, including Jeanne White-Ginder and former Surgeon General Dr. David Satcher.
Participating Local Organizations:
Belmont University
Comprehensive Care Center of Nashville
First Response
Fisk University
Meharry Pre-Alumni Association
Meharry-Vanderbilt Alliance
Meharry-Vanderbilt Student Alliance
Nashville CARES
Planned Parenthood of East and Middle Tennessee
Stone's River Clinic
Street Works
Tennessee State University
United Way of Metropolitan Nashville
Vanderbilt AIDS Center
Vanderbilt HIV Vaccine Program
Vanderbilt University Medical Center
Media Notes: To attend the Town Hall meeting and/or request interviews with any of the participants, contact Jennifer N. Devlin at 703-876-1714 or Jennifer.devlin@cox.net. On-site, contact Damon Thompson at 410-463-0321.
