Time to Restart the Battle Against HIV/AIDS

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andrea of NY 1:27AM September 12, 2010

Mr. Sheridan blurs the history of the federal response to HIV and his role in it, while playing loose with scientific data.
The Ryan White CARE Act is a tremendously important program, but contrary to his assertion it was not the nation's first response to AIDS.
According to a history of the act published by the federal agency that manages the program, "Congress had acted on HIV/AIDS care in a more limited way 2 years earlier with several provisions in the wide-ranging Health Omnibus Programs Extension (HOPE) of 1988. In addition to provisions on HIV research and prevention, the legislation included grants for home- and community-based health services, subacute care demonstration projects, and anonymous counseling and testing programs."
With several iterations of the law over the years, we are now beyond "Ryan White 2.0". The most recent version does include important prevention components, including an emphasis on helping people living with HIV who do not know they are infected learn their status so they can enter care--a major component of current prevention strategies funded by the CDC as well.
Mr Sheridan's flip reference to data on microbicide gels is irresponsible. The data coming out of South Africa this summer was very exciting, but the gel's effectiveness must be replicated in other studies before such assertions can made. Bringing the gel to market is still a couple of years away even in the best case scenario.
I am always doubtful of pieces that seem to have failed even basic fact checking (it's the "Centers for Disease Control and Prevention" and the "Health Resources and Services Administration") and the disregard for the facts in this piece are troubling but not unexpected.

Bob of CA 12:17AM August 19, 2010

The portfolio doesn't mention anything about where AIDS priorities have been, overseas. We have provided health care entitlements through PEPFAR, which was originally a treatment program. As Congress tripled the budget to over 50 billion in the second five year entitlement cycle voted on just before the US Presidential vote; treatment became less a priority and the money went to 'portfolios' that don't provide drug treatment, but build offices and advertise. Treatment may actually have gone down, but we won't know until the PEPFAR Country Operational Plans come out, due now; supposedly this is now each country's job and not PEPFAR US?
Drug treatment at home is coming up as PEPFAR and foreign treatment entitlements with drugs are increasing in other areas; there is a priority to spend money on things other than treatment so that others may get a 'piece of the pie.' Maybe we should focus on just treatment and drugs as PEPFAR did in the beginning and wait to expand other areas until that is provided to all US AIDS patients. Health care is a priority, but not the drug treatment; a priority for AIDS patients. We need to keep these issues separate and make health care drug treatment a priority before expanding and giving everyone a 'piece of the pie.'

CS of AL 3:51PM August 18, 2010