Important note: Information in this article was accurate in 2005. The state of the art may have changed since the publication date.
Bay Windows - November 3 2005
Laura Kiritsy, lkiritsy@baywindows.com.
"The normative framework in which we define HIV and AIDS in the U.S. is outdated," said Haag. "It does not match the current epidemiology and is based on social and political beliefs that no longer hold true. In the last two years, the virus has changed dramatically, treatments have changed, the communities most affected have changed, but the way we fund and care for people has not." Prevention efforts have slowed HIV transmission, she added, but "we have not stopped them."
To that end, said Haag, "we've laid out a national 10-year plan to stop this epidemic." AAC, said Haag, is uniting with AIDS organizations in Washington, D.C.; New York, Los Angeles, San Francisco and Seattle to develop an approach to eradicating the virus that Haag likened to President John F. Kennedy's successful long-term strategy to put a man on the moon in the 1960s. "By defining a measurable outcome and setting an ambitious goal he was able to focus our space efforts and to measure the success," she pointed out. "Imagine what we could achieve if we set an agenda for HIV and AIDS and assured that the resources were committed to meet our agenda."
As federal and state budget cuts force Massachusetts AIDS/HIV organizations to do more with less in fighting the disease, there is a glimmer of hope to add another new weapon to the arsenal - the potential for passage of the Pharmacy Access Bill. The proposed legislation would allow over-the-counter sales of hypodermic needles without a prescription and remove criminal penalties for the possession of syringes. Underscoring the need for passage of the bill, Larry Day, AAC's community relations manager noted in remarks to the annual meeting that of the 1000 new HIV infections reported in Massachusetts during the past year; 40 percent were contracted through needle use. "Two of those people were teenagers who showed up at an [AIDS service organization] after having tested positive," said Day. "Teenagers. They contracted the virus because they had used a dirty needle to shoot steroids."
The bill was reported favorably out of the Health Care Finance Committee on Oct. 31 and appears headed to a vote in the House. "I am very hopeful that the House will move quickly on this," said State Rep. Peter Koutoujian (D-Waltham), chair of the Joint Committee on Public Health and a proponent of the bill who addressed the annual meeting. "Let me just say, I am going to be pushing as far as I can," to pass the bill, said Koutoujian, though he is concerned that the coming debate on universal healthcare, which is expected to dominate the House agenda for the next two weeks, may slow passage of the Pharmacy Access Bill.
Koutoujian acknowledged that "giving needles to people that might use them for illicit purposes is not easy for a politician to do," but he also noted that Massachusetts is one of just three states in the nation that bans the sale of needles without a prescription. "But let me just tell you something, we are going to get this done," he said. "I am convinced we are going to get this done. The leadership is in favor of it; the Senate did it last year. I feel very strongly we're going to get this done."
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