Miami, U.S.A. — The Black Treatment Advocates Network (BTAN) and the Black AIDS Institute are sponsoring HIV Post-Conference Updates in Ft. Lauderdale on August 6 and Miami on August 7 to bring new information from the recent International AIDS Conference (AIDS2012) to South Florida communities. BTAN delegates recently attended AIDS2012 in Washington, D.C., where they learned about the latest HIV research, testing and treatment to implement in their local communities.

In Miami, BTAN will launch the Post-Conference Update at CECOSIDA, 521 NE 81 ST, Miami, FL, 33321. In both Miami and Ft. Lauderdale, BTAN will hold a reception from 5:30 to 9 pm, which will include a screening of the Frontline documentary, ‘End Game’, followed by a panel discussion about the international conference, the current state of AIDS in each city, and how to end the AIDS epidemic in these communities.

The Fort Lauderdale Post-Conference Update will take place from 5:30 to 9 pm at New Mount Olive Ministry Center, 401 NW 9th Ave., Fort Lauderdale, FL 33311. In addition, there will be a science and treatment training session with the Miami-Dade Health Department on August 8.

“The most important thing we can do now is to act: To take what we learned at the International AIDS Conference back into our communities,” said Phill Wilson, President and CEO of the Black AIDS Institute. “Words are not enough now; we are beyond the meetings and the conversations – we can end AIDS in South Florida; if we act decisively, boldly and locally.”

BTAN, a network of Black Advocates committed to bringing the latest HIV/AIDS science to Black communities, is holding the Post-Conference Updates in partnership with the South Beach AIDS Project (SoBAP), Empower “U” and other local AIDS Service Organizations in South Florida, and supported by the Miami-Dade and Broward County Health Departments. They are working together to underscore the urgency of access to the newest testing methods and treatments, and to build resources and infrastructure in local healthcare facilities.

“Being at the AIDS2012 Conference was a momentous occasion and being able to bring it back to our neighborhood – one of the most impacted communities in the country – is essential, ” said Charles Martin, Executive Director of South Beach AIDS Project. “I am proud to work with the Black AIDS Institute to make this happen.”

Approximately 125,000 people, roughly 11.7% of the national total, currently live with HIV infection in Florida, which ranked number one among states in the number of cases of HIV infection reported in 2010, according to the Florida Department of Health Annual Report for 2011.

In 2011, Miami-Dade County reported the highest number of HIV cases and the greatest number of new AIDS cases in the entire state of Florida. Broward County (which includes Fort Lauderdale) currently ranks number two in the nation for cases of people infected by HIV, logging the second highest number of new AIDS cases per capita in the United States.

Image Courtesy of   Elvert Barnes

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New Dehli, India – In a national event organized by Pehchan, Hijras highlight discrimination and demand equality for their community.

Stakeholders from government, media, policy bodies, the transgender and hijra community, and civil society came together on June 2nd for the first National Hijra Habba. The event was organized by Pehchan, a five-year program that strengthens and builds the capacity of 200 community-based organizations in 17 states to advance HIV prevention. The national consultation discussed efforts to achieve equality for transgenders and hijras and drew attention to the significant challenges faced by these communities.

Addressing the event, Gauri Sawant, General Secretary, Transgender and Hijra Welfare Board, Maharashtra, said, “In India, cases of violence go unreported as the present social and legal environment is oppressive towards transgender persons and hijras. Due to their different gender identity, they are denied opportunities to earn a living, to study, and to access health services. Even changing their names and sex in official documents is not easy.”

Pehchan collaborates with India’s National AIDS Control Program and would reach 453,750 MSM (males who have sex with males), transgenders and hijras by 2015 and is the Global Fund’s largest single-country grant to date focused on the HIV response for vulnerable sexual minorities.

Held at Vishwa Yuvak Kendra in New Delhi, the Hijra Habba included speeches, experience sharing and community performances by leaders from transgender and hijra community. In-depth discussions were held on issues including social entitlements, legal status, violence, economic vulnerabilities, and feminization.

At the heart of the event was the development of an action plan for advocacy for the next three years on priority issues for these communities. Ms. Aradhana Johri, Additional Secretary, National AIDS Control Organization (NACO), affirmed the importance of these populations to the national HIV prevention strategy and acknowledged the need for continued effort to control the epidemic among transgenders and hijras.

According to James Robertson, Country Director, India HIV/AIDS Alliance, “India has been a global leader in defining an effective HIV prevention response for transgenders and hijras. The world has much to learn from this example. While progress has been made, the journey towards equality for transgenders and hijras is not yet over.”

The India HIV/AIDS Alliance (Alliance India) is a partnership that brings together organizations and communities to support a sustained response to HIV in India. Complementing the national program in India, it works through capacity building, knowledge sharing, technical support and advocacy. Through a network of partners, Alliance India supports the delivery of community-based HIV programs to key groups affected by the epidemic.

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“Progress in preventing HIV in the United States will be set back, while little will be done to provide additional care and treatment to people already living with HIV/AIDS in our country,” said Carl Schmid, Deputy Executive Director of The AIDS Institute, commenting on the final Fiscal Year 2012 spending bill to be voted on by Congress on December 16.

“This is especially disappointing in light of the optimism expressed by national and global leaders just two weeks ago on World AIDS Day,” he continued.

At the insistence of the House of Representatives, the bill would reinstate a federal funding ban of syringe exchange programs, a scientifically proven method to prevent HIV and other blood borne infections, while not increasing drug use. Additionally, the bill would resurrect failed abstinence-only-until-marriage programs, but only at a minimal level of $5 million.

Despite an estimated 50,000 new HIV infections each year and over 240,000 people unaware of their infection, funding for HIV prevention at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) would be cut by $10 million. Surprisingly, this cut would be to its school health HIV program. The CDC reports that young people aged 13–29 accounted for 39% of all new HIV infections in 2009.

The bill flat funds the Ryan White HIV/AIDS Program except for a $15 million increase, originally proposed by the Senate, for the AIDS Drug Assistance Program (ADAP). The Ryan White Program provides care and treatment to over 550,000 low-income people with HIV/AIDS. According to NASTAD, there are currently 4,155 people in 12 states on ADAP waiting lists and over 445 people in six states who have been disenrolled from the program due to budget constraints and growing enrollment.

On World AIDS Day, President Obama, recognizing the need for additional funding for both care and treatment for low income people with HIV/AIDS in the U.S., announced $50 million in additional funds for the Ryan White Program. As part of that announcement, ADAP would receive an additional $35 million. While it is not known yet how the funds will be distributed, taken together, the $50 million in new ADAP money could eliminate the ADAP wait lists if it is distributed to the wait list states.

“We are extremely grateful to both President Obama and the Congress for continuing to recognize the importance of providing medications to people with HIV/AIDS and the serious funding gap for ADAP,” commented Michael Ruppal, Executive Director of The AIDS Institute. “While it is far from enough to meet the growing need, these increases are a very positive development.”

According to HRSA data, the number of ADAP clients served nationally has grown an astounding 40 percent from FY07-CY10. Under the bill, funding for medical research at the National Institutes of Health would increase by $299 million.

The final bill, which is a product of negotiation between the House and the Senate, is far better than the one introduced earlier this year by House Labor, HHS, Education and Related Agencies Appropriations Subcommittee Chairman Denny Rehberg.

That bill would have decimated the Teen Pregnancy Prevention Program by cutting its budget from $105 million to $20 million, eliminate all Title X spending, and the entire Prevention and Public Health Fund. Additionally it would have prevented implementation of much of the Affordable Care Act. The bill also includes an across the board 0.189 percent cut, meaning all programs are subject to being cut even further

Jose Gil / Shutterstock.com

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