"Countless Americans have devoted their lives to fighting the HIV epidemic and thanks to their tireless work we've made inroads...
Our country is at a crossroads. Right now, we are experiencing a domestic epidemic that demands a RENEWED commitment, INCREASED public attention, and LEADERSHIP.
The vision for the National HIV/AIDS Strategy is simple:
The United States will become a place where new HIV infections are rare and when they do occur, every person, regardless of age, gender, race/ethnicity, sexual orientation, gender identity or socio-economic circumstance, will have unfettered access to high quality, life-extending care, free from stigma and discrimination.
To accomplish these goals, we must undertake a more coordinated national response to the epidemic. The Federal government can't do this alone, nor should it. Success will require the commitment of governments at all levels, businesses, faith communities, philanthropy, the scientific and medical communities, educational institutions, people living with HIV, and others..."
-Executive Summary, National HIV/AIDS Strategy for The United States
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Psychic Anita said:''Michael darling, you're concerned with your financial situation and will tend to neglect your sentimental relationship. Your loved one might remonstrate you for being careless...''
You're right, I'm concerned with my financial situation; but in my case it's a result of my focus on my sentimental relationship with the HIVe Community... It is much like the OCCUPY Community; with only about 1% making up the current HIV/AIDS Bureaucracy and the "Clients" who receive their services due to the Federal >State>CountyRegulations and financial elibibility retrictions and Budget appropriations. The 99% are left to fend for their own with whatever Support Services and Programs they can seek out where they live!
You're right, I'm concerned with my financial situation; but in my case it's a result of my focus on my sentimental relationship with the HIVe Community... It is much like the OCCUPY Community; with only about 1% making up the current HIV/AIDS Bureaucracy and the "Clients" who receive their services due to the Federal >State>CountyRegulations and financial elibibility retrictions and Budget appropriations. The 99% are left to fend for their own with whatever Support Services and Programs they can seek out where they live!
This is the intention of "World AIDS Day @ the World PEACE Bell"; to facilitate, generate and motivate a CommUNITY Conversation about our National HIV/AIDS Strategy for the benefit of the 99% -those of us who are Actually Living with it in America...
Is there a cure?
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| HIV medication can slow the progress of the virus |
Worryingly, surveys show that many people think that there’s a ‘cure’ for AIDS – which makes them feel safer, and perhaps take risks that they otherwise shouldn’t. These people are wrong, though - there is still no cure for AIDS.
There is antiretroviral medication which slows the progression from HIV to AIDS, and which can keep some people healthy for many years. In some cases, the antiretroviral medication seems to stop working after a number of years, in other cases people can recover from AIDS and live with HIV for decades. But they have to take powerful medication every day of their lives, sometimes with very unpleasant side-effects.
But there is still no way to cure HIV, and at the moment the only way to remain safe is not to become infected.
Greetings!
This October, in the 29t 30th year of this grotesque calamity, marked the 2019th milestone of my personal Journey through AIDS. More than 20 million deaths since the first AIDS diagnosis in 1981, almost 38 million people (range 34.6 – 42.3 million) are living with HIV. However, that statistic came from 2004 when I first published this...
AIDS is an extraordinary kind of crisis; it is both an emergency and a long-term development issue. Despite increased funding, political commitment and progress in expanding access to HIV treatment, the AIDS epidemic continues to outpace our response. No segment of humanity has been spared. The epidemic remains extremely dynamic, growing and changing character as the virus exploits new opportunities for transmission. This last year was our worst year ever, with 5 Million New HIV Infections (Prevention failures) and 3 Million Deaths (Treatment failures). As AIDS Quilt founder Cleve Jones said in 2001; “Our hearts may be filled, but there are only two emotions worth expressing at this perilous time: GRIEF and RAGE. Grief for the millions who have died and are dying. Rage at the indifference, greed, and stupidity that permit this grotesque calamity to continue.”
Indifference, greed and stupidity are also the three major ingredients in the American recipe for what has come to be known as AIDS Complacency. A Cultural phenomena against which every major player in the fight against it has warned us continually for as long as I can remember. Indifference which is rooted in the arrogance that it can’t happen to us, only “the right people”; mainly gays. Greed fueled by the profits, jobs and paychecks from the new industry and bureaucracy it spawned. Stupidity that prevents us from using every means available to prevent future infections.
Since May 16th, 2004; the first local observance of the International AIDS Candlelight Memorial - the purpose of which was to act as a catalyst for our CommUNITY to begin again to talk about HIV/AIDS, the theme of "Turning Remembrance into ACTION!" has evolved into this blueprint for a Stronger, Louder, Prouder and More Respected South Bank response to the AIDS epidemic.
Mission Statement
The Mission of The South Bank HIVe is simply to “Take up the slack” that now exists in caring for the “Quality of Life” issues of the infected/affected who are now living longer and preventing further infections, as seen thru the eyes of a long term survivor… The purpose is HIV/AIDS Awareness Prevention, Education and Social Support services.
Principles
In implementing its mission and purpose, The HIVe will adhere to the following principles:
The politics of inclusion – Respecting all people and treating all members of the HIV community with the same dignity and respect. While our focus will be on HIV/AIDS in our Community, we will also have concern for the stigmatization, discrimination, demonization, persecution, and oppression faced by all disenfranchised peoples.
Creating systematic change –
We believe that our work must focus on building a broad base of support for “Quality of Life” issues of social justice that includes, but is not limited to, issues important to our HIV community. This means that long term change is of greater significance than any single issue, campaign, or candidate and our education and advocacy efforts will reflect that priority.
Philosophy - The Four Agreements Written by Don Miguel Ruiz
1) Be Impeccable With Your Word
1) Be Impeccable With Your Word
Speak with integrity. Say only what you mean. Avoid using the word to speak against yourself or to gossip about others. Use the power of your work in the direction of truth and love.
2) Don't Take Anything Personally
Nothing others do is because of you. What others say and do is a projection of their own reality, their own dream. When you are immune to the opinions and actions of others, you won't be the victim of needless suffering.
3) Don't Make Assumptions
Find the courage to ask questions and to express what you really want. Communicate with others as clearly as you can to avoid misunderstandings, sadness and drama. With just this one agreement, you can completely transform your life.
4) Always Do Your Best
Your best is going to change from moment to moment; it will be different when you are healthy as opposed to sick. Under any circumstance, simply do your best, and you will avoid self-judgment, self-abuse, and regret.
Renewing the Denver Principles
In 1983, a small group of people with AIDS met at a gay-health conference in Denver, Colorado, and wrote a document now known as the Denver Principles.
Written at a time of great social fear and political hysteria, the Denver Principles spells out the rights and responsibilities of people with AIDS.
Back then, the average survival between diagnosis and death was mere months; many died within weeks or days. Despite that terrible prognosis, this handful of people with AIDS asserted an identity for those who had the disease. I quote:
“We condemn attempts to label us as ‘victims,’ a term that implies defeat, and we are only occasionally ‘patients’ a term that implies passivity, helplessness and dependence upon the care of others. We are people with AIDS.”
They demanded the right to be involved at every level of decision-making, from shaping government programs to involvement in prevention campaigns to meaningful roles on staff and in the governance of organizations providing services to us and in response to the epidemic.
It was a powerful and radical concept. In the history of humankind, never before had sufferers of a disease united to assert their rights in this way.
Near the end of the health conference, they stormed the podium to read their manifesto under a banner that read, “Fighting For Our Lives.” They got a ten-minute standing ovation. The conference cochair said, “There wasn’t a dry eye in the house.” Those present knew history was being made at that moment.
Indeed it was, as their revolutionary document profoundly influenced the development—in a remarkably short period of time—of a massive AIDS service delivery system, which sought to fill the void left by traditional medical and social service organizations that were too scared or prejudiced to serve people with HIV/AIDS. **********************************
WORLD AIDS DAY - December 1st, 1999This years Theme is "END THE SILENCE!", which refers to the complacency over the Epidemic which has come about as a result of the significant strides that have been made in drug therapies and slowing the rate of deaths. As we approach the New Millennium, there is still NO CURE or VACCINE and it is urgent that we keep the troops mobilized in the ongoing battle against this scourge that continues to afflict all peoples throught the World.
From previous issues of POZ:
Dubya Trouble
Five reasons to fear Bush's war on HIVers more than terrorism
Doug Ireland reports: If there was any remaining doubt that George W. Bush is the AIDS community's new No. 1 enemy, it was erased by an avalanche of recent actions.
On World AIDS Day, December 1, We the People; Commemorate those we have lost, as well as All those Infected and/or AFFECTED! Over the years, World AIDS Day has become a global phenomenon that has prompted massive media coverage, raised awareness, encouraged people to get involved and amplified the voices of those living with HIV. But how can we get people to care about HIV/AIDS after Dec. 1?
EVERYDAY IS WORLD HIV DAY! Living With HIV IS Not Dying of AIDS;
Many people living with HIV in America today face a unique set of structural and lifestyle challenges, including, but not limited to: poverty, hunger, under- or unemployment, illiteracy, racism, discrimination, immigration issues, homelessness, stigma, previous or current incarceration, sexual or domestic violence, homophobia, substance use, criminalization, addiction, and childcare and mental health issues. Much of what we have learned about fighting HIV has to be reconsidered in light of who is contracting the virus today and why...
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EVERYDAY IS WORLD HIV DAY! Living With HIV IS Not Dying of AIDS;
Many people living with HIV in America today face a unique set of structural and lifestyle challenges, including, but not limited to: poverty, hunger, under- or unemployment, illiteracy, racism, discrimination, immigration issues, homelessness, stigma, previous or current incarceration, sexual or domestic violence, homophobia, substance use, criminalization, addiction, and childcare and mental health issues. Much of what we have learned about fighting HIV has to be reconsidered in light of who is contracting the virus today and why...
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A National Crusade for Renewed Awareness
Against AIDS & Discrimination!!
Subject: [Fwd: Life or Death...]
Date: Sun, 22 Oct 2000
From: Kevin O'Toole
Dear Friends,
Hope all of you are well these days. I'm good. Just wanted to share some things with you that have come my way recently.
____________________
>From a Gay friend in Colorado...
Dear Friends,
I invite you to check out a fantastic new web site:
<http://www.outvote2000.org>
I am working with (and for) Out Vote 2000, a nonpartisan project of the Gill Operating Foundation, to encourage Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender persons to vote on November 7th. I would invite you to go to the site, which is packed with resources to help LGBT & Affirming folks make an informed decision on November 7th. Please copy this e-mail to others who you think would benefit from it.
____________________
>From my friend Michael in Kentucky living with HIV disease...
As I was watching the Debate and opening the days mail, I came face-to-face with George W. on the cover of the November issue of the AIDS/HIV Magazine-"POZ". The timely released cover reminds us whose hands the blood of all those who have perished in this epidemic is drenched with:
The magazines founder, Sean Strub, writes in the opening piece:
"People with AIDS/HIV face a quandary when voting for the next president November 7. Our very survival over the next four years is inextricably linked to the national politics of funding research, protecting civil liberties and delivering health care. We are literally held hostage by a system that has more often been a hindrance than a help. I deeply resent the shallowness of the debate around the issues, particularly AIDS...
Four years ago in this space I wrote: 'I will cast my ballot to re-elect
President Clinton. But I will do so in disgust, mourning the Bill
Clinton I used to know. The Clinton I campaigned for and believed in was a man whose commitment to fight AIDS was unquestioned. He was driven to save lives and reverse 12 years of Reagan-Bush neglect.'...
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Then, three months ago, came an article in the New England Journal of Medicine titled "Prevention of HIV-1 Infection with Early Antiretroviral Therapy." The study found a 96 percent decrease in transmission to a heterosexual partner when AIDS treatment was begun early. Treating AIDS sooner than later is a dramatically effective form of AIDS prevention.
This raises a prospect comparable to medical achievements such as the eradication of smallpox or advances in cancer treatment. Currently, for every new AIDS patient put on treatment, about two more become infected. Millions of lives are saved — but ground is still lost to the disease. With combination prevention, the balance would shift. For every person who begins treatment, there would be fewer than one who becomes infected. This would effectively be the epidemic's end.
The Obama administration has officially adopted the goal of "creating an AIDS-free generation." "While the finish line is not yet in sight," said Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton on Tuesday, "we know we can get there, because now we know the route we need to take. It requires all of us to put a variety of scientifically proven prevention tools to work in concert with each other."
According to our National HIV/AIDS Strategy; Ryan White Care Act & Federal $$ are disbursed to the States to be administered only for the Benefit of State Residents... The majority of UnRestricted funds raised by Non-Profit events such as the "AIDS Walk" go to pay for things like Staff, Office Space, etc that Federal or State $$ can't be used for; leaving little to no $$ for providing programs and services for the General Population outside of Cincinnati, Ohio.
The Nation can succeed at meeting the President's goals. It will require the Federal Government and State, tribal and local governments, however, to do some things differently. Foremost is the need for an unprecedented commitment to collaboration, efficiency, and innovation. We also must be prepared to adjust course as needed. This Strategy is intended to complement other related efforts across the Administration...
The Strategy is intended to promote greater investment in HIV/AIDS, but this is not a budget document...
The Strategy should be used to refocus our existing efforts and deliver better results to the American people within current funding levels, as well as to highlight the need for additional investments. Our national progress will require sustaining broader public commitment to HIV, and this calls for more regular communications to ensure transparency about whether we are meeting national goals.
A Key step is to Increase the coordination of HIV programs across the Federal government and between federal agencies and state, territorial, tribal and local governments.
This Strategy provides a basic framework for moving forward. With government at all levels doing its part, a committed private sector, and leadership from people living with HIV and affected communities, the United States can dramatically reduce HIV transmission and better support people living with HIV and their families.
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