POZ Community Forums
Main Forums => AIDS Activism => Topic started by: Bucklandbury on August 07, 2021, 11:09:14 am
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https://www.poz.com/blog/Five-things-my-heart-surgery-taught-me-about-HIV
Bob is retiring. He calls on a new generation of AIDS activists with new tactics.
I got complacent over the last 30 years, but I am on fire now. I want to do more.
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He calls on a new generation of AIDS activists with new tactics.
. . .
I want to do more.
the frustrations of a sector, at least in Canada, that has been spinning its wheels, achieving poor results where it matters most. New HIV diagnoses in particular are trending the wrong way. The industry, in truth, needs a shake-up. I’d love to see a new generation of activists approach that task, to help fashion a response to HIV entirely differently from the current one, in fact.
I applaud your desire to want to do more! :-*
For much of the last decade and a half, I have been doing volunteer work with not only several health clinics but several county health dpts. and two state health dpts - and all because I live just outside of Charlotte NC, but across the state line in SC. Basically, I have a few forms of activism I suggest to people wanting to do more.
1. Legislative advocacy.
Talk to as many of your state Legislators as possible about all things HIV and money-related.
2. Peer Support Counseling.
Newbies so often have such hard times coming to grips with a diagnosis that once was a terrible issue before but has for some time been a chronic manageable issue. Peer support, people living with HIV counseling/educating/supporting/advising people living with HIV, in some areas is finally getting the attention it deserves; while in other places it's a pipe dream. The first place to look at is your own provider's office. If they don't offer support services, they should know what's happening in your county or state
2. Ryan White Care Program
The situation here in the States is different from Canada. Almost all, if not all, HIV care providers are connected with the Ryan White Program to make sure patients have access to care. Included in the law that created this program are mandates for methods to measure, evaluate, and improvement patient treatment and care. Although the focus is on patients who are financially eligible for RW services, similar to the old adage of a rising tide lifting all boats, as provider agencies improve care for RW-assisted patients, the quality of service is improved for all. The Ryan White program through regular reporting, regular quality meetings and with the input from people living with HIV has made great strides and America has much better numbers (more prevention, more diagnosed, more treated, more virally suppressed) that other countries. Based in part on the "Denver Principles" (https://www.seroproject.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/11/denver_principles-FINAL.pdf) and the saying "nothing about us, without us", local Providers, county-level health depts, and state-wide health depts are always looking for more input and assistance from people living with HIV. Talk to your provider about their inclusion of people living in HIV in their Ryan White Quality Management Program, or have them link you to the county or state Ryan White programs.
https://www.hiv.gov/hiv-basics/overview/data-and-trends/statistics
https://www.poz.com/article/88-people-hiv-receiving-ryan-white-care-viral-suppression