What the Republican and Democratic Party 2012 Platforms say about HIV/AIDS

[leatherman]

What the Republican and Democratic Party Platforms say about HIV/AIDS
 
There's hardly any comparison to how the Republican Party and Democratic Party platforms deal with HIV. The Republicans hardly mention it, while the Democrats discuss how to deal with this epidemic at home and abroad throughout the world.
 
In very few words, the Republican Party simply wants to return to abstinence-only education. While they try to claim their stance is "science-based" (and it is to the point that not having sex does prevent people from being exposed to diseases and/or unplanned pregnancies), it's not very science-based because it ignores the reality that a lot of people do have sex, and quite often it's unprotected sex.
 
However, the Democrats, in their much more comprehensive platform discussion of HIV, praise former President Bush's incredible PEPAR program; while re-affirming President Obama's continuing committement towards sustaining PEPFAR. They also disuss continuing the first ever national HIV Stratgey implemented by President Obama's administration. This science-based plan addresses the need to test and treat along with retaining patients in treatment as the way American needs to deal with the HIV epidemic in our country.
 
 
Below are the segments from each the Party Platforms discussing HIV/AIDS:
 
from the Republican 2012 Platform

We renew our call for replacing "family planning" programs for teens with abstinence education which teaches abstinence until marriage as the responsible and respected standard of behavior. Abstinence from sexual activity is the only protection that is 100 percent effective against out-of-wedlock pregnancies and sexually-transmitted diseases including HIV/AIDS when transmitted sexually. It is effective, science-based, and empowers teens to achieve optimal health outcomes and avoid risks of sexual activity

http://www.gop.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/08/2012GOPPlatform.pdf
pg36
 
 
from the Democractic 2012 Platform:
pg 35

We Democrats have increased overall funding to combat HIV/AIDS to record levels and will continue our nation’s fight against HIV/AIDS. President Obama established the first-ever comprehensive National HIV/AIDS Strategy for responding to the domestic epidemic, which calls for reducing HIV incidence, increasing access to care, optimizing health outcomes, and reducing HIV-related health disparities. This is an evidence-based plan that is guided by science and seeks to direct resources to the communities at greatest risk, including gay men, black and Latino Americans, substance users, and others at high risk of infection. And we will continue to support America’s groundbreaking biomedical researchers in their lifesaving work.

pg65

Combating HIV/AIDS and Infectious Disease.
Recognizing that health is a prerequisite for development, the President has made unprecedented progress in the global fight against HIV/AIDS and other infectious diseases. Building on the strong foundation created during the previous administration, the President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR) has expanded its prevention, care, and treatment programming. As a result, PEPFAR now has made significant investments in more than 30 countries, and we set a goal to roughly double the number of lifesaving anti-retroviral treatments we provide by the end of 2013. With his latest budget, the President is fulfilling his historic commitment to request $4 billion over three years for the Global Fund, and the President remains committed to robust funding for PEPFAR and the Global Fund in the future. And President Obama lifted the 25-year ban that prevented non-citizens living with HIV from entering the United States, allowing the world’s largest group of HIV/AIDS researchers, policymakers, medical professionals, and advocates to convene in Washington to continue their efforts to improve prevention and treatment.
Our efforts to combat HIV/AIDS are part of a broader commitment to address the challenges posed by infectious disease. Over the past four years, the administration has leveraged billions of dollars in commitments from donors to meet the demand for new vaccines, making it possible to immunize millions of children and prevent premature deaths.

http://assets.dstatic.org/dnc-platform/2012-National-Platform.pdf

[jkinatl2]

I said it before and I will say it again.

Any  person who votes republican is voting explicitly for my deep unhappiness and messy death. They are my sworn enemy and I will pull no punches in letting them know this.

Any HIV positive person who does this is a self-loathing monster of the most unsympathetic order, and deserves the loneliness, the horror, the massive asteroid of Karma that wil come bearing down upon them.

It's been a spectacularly long night, and I am not in the mood to be diplomatic or kind to people who wish me harm.

[idee]

I am voting for Obama anyways. I wrote the White house twice and got a reply twice. I wrote Romney's campaign people asking about their plan to help people with HIV and they never wrote back.

[Aurora]

In an effect to bring it to people attn before WAD, i composed a petition to help save ryan white care act.  i already knew that under gop rhetoric, anyone under 60 despite the disability, that it would cut me off too, but debt deals i just want to remind them the importance of keeping ryan white and its myrad services it provides to the many that live with this virus right here and the lack of care they might have if it isnt protected.
http://www.thepetitionsite.com/752/712/186/world-aids-day-dec-1-2112-save-ryan-white-care-act-permanantly/

[leatherman]

That's great Aurora! Even with the Affordable Care Act and (hopefully) Medicaid Expansion, Ryan White Funding will be needed to fill in the gaps. There will still be a need to help some with ADAP, and with housing. Until the new healthcare plan is fully implemented we need Ryan White to stay fully funded to pick up the slack as the systems transition


btw I signed!

[leatherman]

hey idee! I never saw your earlier post here. That's great that you wrote and make your opinion heard - even if some people didn't care to answer.

Although not getting an answer isn't the worst thing. LOL I often get replies back from Senators Lindsey Graham and Jim DeMint and almost feel sick at the callous disregard of the things I think are issues. Not to mention the insipid replies from SC Governor Nikki Halley's office - ick. Never do any of them reply to the merits of the issues or try to further any discussion. They just spout their hateful party lines.

Why once DeMint's reply said he was glad I agreed with him. WHAT?!?!? Needless to say I got on the phone after that and made sure they understood the need to actually look at a citizen's letter before sending out a form reply as not everyone agrees with DeMint's Tea Party values.