As press conferences go, the one held this week for the #SaveHIVFunding effort by the national advocacy group PrEP4All was a doozy. But not for the usual reasons.
There were no shocking announcements from the slate of public health advocates and workers. There were no major revelations from the client living with HIV about the precarious state of his health care. We’ve grown used to those sad and infuriating developments, even if we shouldn’t.
What the press conference had, unexpectedly and heartbreakingly, was tears. Voices that choked with grief. Stunned faces lost in the insanity and cruelty of it all. And that was just from the public health officials.
The most startling moment happened when the topic of National HIV Testing Day came up, and one panelist mused about whether or not there would be sufficient resources to carry it out. Some HIV clinics have already shut down. Testing personnel have been laid off. The clinics that remain have spotty hours of operation. Even promotional funds to get the word out about HIV Testing Day have been reduced.
What if they gave an HIV Testing Day and nobody came?
What are the good of new medications if people cannot access them, if their Medicare has been cut, if clinical services are depleted, if your very survival in this country depends on where you were born? To say nothing of the elimination of HIV cure, vaccine, and treatment research grants.
In many ways it feels like the 1980s again. I was there. You wouldn’t like it.
You know the drill. Contact every single one of your elected officials and tell them NOT TO SUPPORT LEGISLATION THAT DECREASES HEALTH CARE, RESEARCH, OR PUBLIC HEALTH. Visit this site if you need to know who your officials are and how to reach them.
Go to #SaveHIVFunding to find out more.
Let’s go, people.
Mark
