World AIDS Day 2009 ~ Preparations Under Way

Vermont CARES is preparing for a busy World AIDS Day ~ December 1, 2009.  We hope you’ll join us in some portion of the day’s commemoration, outreach, and awareness-building.  Vermont CARES’ supporters, community, and clients are asked to pause in honor and memory on this auspicious day, while also encouraging increased HIV testing and awareness. 
 
During the day of December 1st, we will expand the walk-in hours of Burlington’s rapid HIV testing to be open from 9am to 7pm.  In honor of World AIDS Day, expanded hours will continue from 9am to 4pm daily through the week. 
 
Further, staff and volunteers will blanket venues throughout the county and state providing information tables and red ribbons for awareness, as well as education presentations in forums such as St. Johnsbury Academy. 
 
Evening activities will include a candle lighting ceremony at the Burlington Unitarian Universalist Church at 5:30pm to honor the lives and love of people with HIV/AIDS.

Please visit our website at www.vtcares.org for more details as other events develop around the state.  We certainly invite you to join us during the day or evening to focus on the local and global impact of HIV and AIDS.

Green Mountain Derby Dames Bout to benefit Vermont CARES!

CARES is grateful for a new ally in Vermont’s Roller Derby Team
 
On November 7th, with doors opening at 5pm, get ready to roll with the Green Mountain Derby Dames and Vermont CARES!  Our region’s premier flat track roller derby league is hosting Boston’s B-Party team for a bout not to be missed, and they’re donating a portion of the proceeds to our HIV/AIDS programs. 

This will be a fun, energetic, and action-packed evening.  The bout will be held at the Expo North Building at the Champlain Valley Expo, and tickets are on sale at the Flynn Box Office: $12 in advance and $15 at the door.  www.flynntix.org. 
 
More information about our fantastic allies ~ the Green Mountain Derby Dames ~ can be found at www.gmderbydames.com.

A successful week in HIV politics in the U.S.

Vermont CARES is grateful and proud to announce that recent legislative work in Washington, D.C. means that the critical care network for HIV/AIDS will continue for another four years.  Earlier today, President Obama signed into law an extension of the Ryan White CARE Act, meaning that medication, hospital care, and adherance services for hundreds of Vermonters will be strong for the foreseeable future. 
 
CARES would like to thank the offices of Representative Welch, Senator Sanders, and Senator Leahy for supporting this crucial legislation, and for being responsive allies in navigating how to lead Vermont’s perspective on this critical bill.  Our thanks and congratulations!

Also, in signing the Ryan White CARE Act, President Obama announced he would lift the HIV travel ban ~ much discussed on this blog over the summer of 2009 ~ as of early 2010.  This is outstanding news for all people with HIV, and in a border state like Vermont this change will have a strong positive impact.

We take these as examples of HIV advocacy creating real social change.  For all those in the CARES community who called, wrote, or otherwise expressed your opinion on the travel ban or Ryan White programs, we thank you for making a difference!

HIV Vaccine Trials: One Step Closer to Realization

Yesterday, many of Vermont CARES’ clients and supporters contacted us to learn more about modestly successful vaccine trial results announced in Thailand this week.  A link to the full article, discussing long-term impact, scientific advances, and crucial next steps, is below. 

In Vermont ~ indeed in all rural communities and globally ~ a vaccine that proves effective at reducing HIV infections could serve as a critical public health tool.  Where transportation and limited infrastructure interfere with effective health strategies keeping people healthy and reducing the spread of HIV, a vaccine could save hundreds of lives. 

The vaccine trial announced in Thailand Thursday teaches us that an effective vaccine could be possible.  Still, many questions remain: why was this vaccine only partially successful?  Can it be adapted to other strains of HIV, so that a vaccine can prove efficacious globally?  What specific immune system triggers are activated by this combination of two less effective vaccines?  Are there health complications not discovered yet?  What would be  the timeline for bringing any successful vaccine to market?  Most crucially, can the vaccine in trials now be improved to be more than 31% effective (as most vaccines publicly available are 70-80% effective)?  

No matter how much is left to be done, this proves a huge development.  With many questions still unfolding, Vermont CARES will keep updates posted to this blog as we learn more.   (Link below)

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/09/25/health/research/25aids.html?_r=1&scp=1&sq=hiv%20vaccine&st=cse

U.S. HIV travel ban: September 2009 update….

The process for repealing the U.S. travel ban for people with HIV continues; we may not know the outcome of public comment for several months (though reports are that more than 20,000 comments were submitted – mostly in opposition to this ban).  In the meantime, we continue with the travel theme.

For those of us traveling with HIV to other countries, a few notes on planful travel (from the CDC):

• Know your health status – are you well enough to travel?
• Do you have enough medication for the length of your trip, or for extending the trip due to circumstances beyond your control?  Are they in appropriately marked containers?
• Are you taking any medications that are controlled substances in any of the countries you plan to visit?
• Ask your health care professional: are there vaccinations you should consider before travel?
• Does your destination have limitations on travel with HIV/AIDS?  Some countries require testing, but predominantly for permanent residency requests or work visas. 
• Register with the Department of State so your country knows you’re abroad.  They can notify family in case of medical or other emergencies. 
• Take routine travel precautions: leave copies of your itinerary with family, as well as passport data and other crucial information.   Take care while traveling, and consider environmental conditions that may exacerbate other health conditions.
• Know what medical facilities you may need to access while abroad: are there facilities that your provider could recommend?

While Vermont CARES has made clear our opposition to the U.S. ban against HIV-positive travelers , other countries have similar bans too.  Planning for travel considerations will make for happier and healthier trips.  Visit the CDC’s website for travel advisories and advice:  www.cdc.gov and click on “Travelers’ Health.”

Ryan White Reauthorization 2009 is moving ahead

Last Wednesday, The House of Representative’s Committee on Energy and Commerce’s Subcommittee on Health started hearings on the Ryan White CARE Act, which is currently scheduled to expire by the end of September 2009. 

This is outstanding news, and the reauthorization – continuing this crucial national safety net – is very urgent indeed.  The CARE Act supports HIV medication, medical case management, and critical support services that maintain health and save lives across the country.  This CARE Act is so crucial for Vermont because it is focused on healthcare and quality of life for those most in need.  As a bill supporting public health and reducing poverty, the CARE Act is wide-reaching and has broad social consequences. 

Preliminary drafts of the reauthorization legislation look to extend the Program for another three years, and include sensible changes to the law that could allow smaller states like Vermont to demonstrate and expand upon the success of Ryan White programming.

The draft legislation is under discussion in the Committee, and these discussions seem positive at first glance.  Additional Committees, the full House, and the Senate are additional hurdles we need to pass as HIV advocates.  More information, Committee hearing schedules, and progress updates will be posted on this blog, as well as public calls to action.  Keep checking for more details as they arise, or check the Energy and Commerce website at http://energycommerce.house.gov/

…and now we celebrate!

The day of Marriage Equity in Vermont, Vermont CARES is very grateful to be the recipient of fundraising through the Vermont Gay Tourism Association’s ongoing Small State, Big Heart Festival, culminating on September 1st at the Essex Resort and Spa in a dance party and hors d’oeuvres.  It will be a fun way to celebrate this momentous occassion with others  in our small state, and we hope you can join us!

Dance Party and Wedding Reception

Tuesday / September 1, 2009 / 6-11pm

The Essex / 70 Essex Way / Essex, Vermont

Tickets at www.smallstatebigheart.com

Community Meeting in the Face of Hate Speech

Tonight, Vermont CARES is joining many other organizations and individuals to respond to messages of hate directed against the Jewish and LGBTQ communities of Vermont.  On the eve of implementation of Vermont’s marriage equity law, our state is convening a meeting to share affirmation of human equality, free & fair speech, and a positive response to hatemongering.  This is a direct, unified, and strong response to visitors from outside of our state with intentions to spread misinformation and bigotry.  (See Burlington Free Press for details of planned protests across Vermont  http://www.burlingtonfreepress.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=200990822012) 

We are joining this forum because homophobia is tied in so many ways to the stigma that still surrounds HIV and AIDS; for many who can’t see past myths through to the medical and social, being LGBTQ and living with HIV are intrinsically linked.  While we at Vermont CARES know that hate toward the LGBTQ community directly impacts attitudes toward our neighbors with HIV, we also know people with HIV and AIDS have been catalysts for social and individual change.  The myths of HIV, when turned on their heads, are really lessons of empathy, compassion, and humanity. 

Details of this forum in support of the Jewish and LGBTQ (and HIV and all!) commuities affected by tomorrow’s planned protests are:

A Community Meeting of Solidarity in the Face of Hate Speech

Monday / August 31, 2009 / 7:30pm

First Congregational Church in Burlington

38 South Winooski Avenue, Burlington

Thank you for your support of people with HIV, and for the activism, advice, and strength that makes such support possible.  ~ Vermont CARES

Update on HIV Travel Ban – Public Comment Now Accepted at CDC

Vermont CARES has blogged about the U.S. government’s discriminatory ban on travel and immigration by people with HIV in the past (see post linked here at:  http://vermontcares.wordpress.com/2008/07/22/senate-votes-to-repeal-travel-ban/). 

We are happy to post an update on this story.  Despite a delay of some 12 months, the government has drafted proposed rule changes that would allow travel and immigration by people with HIV into the U.S.  This is positive movement to end this form of discrimination and stigma, and we all have an additional roughly two weeks to post comments and feedback on this proposed elimination of the travel ban. 

Below is an excerpt from Vermont CARES’ response to the federal government.  We encourage you to make your voice heard as well.  One easy way to email comments to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) is through this weblink:  http://www.immigrationequality.org/template3.php?pageid=1142  (We don’t necessarily endorse or discourage the work of Immigration Equality, but this is one of the simplest forms we’ve found to register feedback.) 

Another method for showing you want the ban removed is to copy the address and RE: line of this letter posted below, and mail a note by post with your own comments.  Comments are allowed through August 17th, 2009. 

Thank you for helping us make a difference for all of us affected by HIV and AIDS.

Letter follows:

August 4, 2009

 

Division of Global Migration and Quarantine

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention

U.S. Department of Health and Human Services

Attn: Part 34 NPRM Comments

1600 Clifton Road, N.E., MS E-08

Atlanta, GA 30333

 

Re: Letter in support of eliminating HIV travel ban relative to Docket No. CDC – 2008 – 0001

 

 

Vermont CARES is the largest and longest-serving HIV/AIDS Service Organization in Vermont.  We provide advocacy and outreach designed to better the lives of all people with HIV.  In this light, we strongly support lifting the immigration ban on visitors and immigrants living with HIV.  We write this letter in response to the CDC’s publication in July 2009 in the Federal Register of proposed rulemaking that would remove HIV from the definition of communicable disease of “public health significance.” 

 

We support in full this rule change for the following reasons:

 

• HIV is not a casually communicable virus. HIV can only be transmitted by very specific behaviors, and does not spread through airborne or casual contact. 

 

• A broad ban against travel and immigration by people with HIV is discriminatory and runs counter to national interests and ethics.  This ban has more to do with stigmas, misperceptions, and fears about HIV than it does with science and solid public health protection strategies. 

 

• This is not the right response to HIV either nationally or internationally.   The United States, by enforcing this ban, is misappropriating resources that could otherwise be used for national or international prevention or treatment efforts.  This short-sighted, scientifically unsound, and discriminatory ban wastes resources in a time when prevention and treatment are needed more than ever before because of rising HIV infection rates here and abroad.

 

For these reasons, we fully support and formally request the removal of HIV from the definition of “communicable diseases of public health significance.”  Please do not hesitate to contact me with any questions about the ramifications of this current travel and immigration ban in Vermont.  I can be reached at our Burlington office at 800/649.2437. 

 

Sincerely,

 

Peter Jacobsen

Executive Director

Vermont CARES

Federal Ban on Syringe Exchange: One Step Forward and Two Steps Back?

Vermont CARES has been keeping a close eye on developments in Washington DC regarding syringe exchange.  The news is mixed.

Congress is slowly moving to eliminate a clause in budget language that for years has banned the expenditure of federal funds for syringe exchange.  Doing so would be a wise budgetary and public health shift, since it will allow for much-needed resources to support programs nationwide that reduce rates of HIV and other blood-borne pathogens, reduce rates of complications due to injection drug use, and help segue participants into substance abuse treatment.  These programs are critical for an otherwise underserved population, and are currently funded by private or state funds. (To note: Vermont CARES operates a syringe exchange program through our St. Johnsbury office.)

Two unwelcome developments in the past two weeks complicate lifting the ban.  First and foremost, a new clause has been inserted into House language barring syringe exchange programs within 1,000 feet of schools, childcare centers, and many other public institutions.  This would present a nearly impossible quandary for urban syringe exchanges in dense neighborhoods, therefore providing a de facto continuation of the ban on federal funds. 

A second clause threatens to extend that federal proximity ban to syringe exchanges in Washington DC proper, even for syringe exchanges supported by city dollars.  The threat of virtually defunding and closing syringe exchanges in a city that consistently is most affected by HIV infections is unethical and a serious threat to public health. 

These policy discussions on Capitol Hill are less about funding and finance, and more about the priority of extending life-saving and community-enhancing programs to communities that most need them.  While the financial angle may seem narrow, the implications are very broad indeed. 

We will provide updates through this blog, through email alerts, and through personal correspondence regarding steps for public action so we can work together to remove this virtual extension of the ban on federal funding for syringe exchange. 

In the meantime, check out the New York Time’s August 4th, 2009 editorial “Playing a Deadly Game with AIDS,” in support of stripping this language from Congressional appropriations.  http://www.nytimes.com/2009/08/05/opinion/05wed2.html