Today, SASI and 75 national, regional, state and local organizations called on the White House Office of National AIDS Policy (ONAP) to expand the National HIV/AIDS Strategy (NHAS) to add the following critical actions necessary to further reduce HIV infections and to achieve an AIDS-free Generation in the United States:
- Adopt a more effective and nuanced approach to HIV Prevention by ensuring that:
- HIV prevention resources are also targeted to rural and suburban, under-served areas with high HIV diagnosis rates, high death rates, and low survival rates, among people diagnosed with HIV or AIDS;
- HIV prevention efforts in rural and suburban areas are informed by the epidemic profile of each state and tailored geographically by the social and cultural context in each state;
- HIV prevention efforts targeted to rural and suburban areas support and evaluate capacity to provide HIV prevention and care at the state, local and community-based organization levels.
at the 13th highest rate in the nation. The State of Alabama has not yet expanded Medicaid under the Affordable Care Act. As a result, an estimated 1,900 of the lowest-income HIV+ residents of Alabama have been left out of coverage available in other states. They must rely on Ryan White funding for crucial medical care and other supportive services. In 2011, an estimated 7,133 Alabamians received services through the Ryan White program.
southernaidsstrategy.org 