State threatens HIV/AIDS victims’ well-being as dangerous cuts are imposed to ADAP program

We all know these are hard economic times. It’s evidenced by all of us doing more with less. So we all shouldn’t be surprised that the state of North Carolina is trying to do the same. We shouldn’t be surprised that some programs are going to be cut, granted they are proven to be unnecessary and ineffective. But when programs that are effective and necessary are being cut, for the excuse of the ‘economy’, we, as citizens should be more than annoyed. But the state’s cutting off a significant percentage of funds from the North Carolina AIDS Drugs Assistance Program recently shows the lack of care, urgency, and regard North Carolina has for its Carolinians living with HIV/AIDS.

Since its inception, the North Carolina AIDS Drug Assistance Program has helped over 6,000 people living with HIV/AIDS in North Carolina. To participate in the program an individual has to obviously have HIV/AIDS, have their income be 300 percent below the federal poverty line, and have no third party insurance such as Medicaid or private insurance, and their medications have to be covered by the program. The program covered three tiers of medications.

However, as of Feb. 1, 2010, the state cut off funds for tier two and tier three medications. You might be asking why can’t they just survive on tier one medications? Well, unfortunately, HIV/AIDS is a tricky virus. HIV/AIDS affects people in different ways, so each person’s HIV/AIDS cocktail (a combination of medications) is going to vary. Tier two medications that were covered by the state helped to treat diabetes, depression, hypertension, nausea caused by medication and much more. Tier three medications that were covered helped to treat wasting of the body caused by AIDS, depression, Hepatitis C treatment, and many more. These medications help those living with HIV/AIDS to live healthier and longer lives, and with these cuts to tier two and tier three, their full potential possibly cannot be realized.

Unfortunately, this isn’t the only road block to those living with HIV/AIDS in North Carolina. As of Jan. 22, 2010, anyone seeking to gain entry into the ADAP program would be put on an indefinite waiting list. The only people that would gain entrance into the program are pregnant women. I completely understand that pregnant women certainly need care and medication to reduce the risk of passing on HIV/AIDS to their baby. But pregnant women are not the only ones that are HIV/AIDS positive in North Carolina.

With North Carolina’s HIV/AIDS infection rates rising in four out of the last five years, more and more people are going to need life saving medications that the ADAP program can provide. Case managers across the state are working their hardest to find low-cost alternatives for their clients, but it isn’t easy, and unfortunately, lots of people have to do without the medication that would add many years onto their lives. I wish I could say that we are the only state doing this, but many states in the United States have waiting lists for their ADAP program. Arkansas, Iowa, Kentucky, Montana, Nebraska, South Dakota, Tennessee, Utah, Wyoming, and now North Carolina, all have waiting lists for the ADAP program. In fact, as of Feb. 26, 2010, North Carolina has the second longest waiting list in the country for the ADAP program.

While the advocacy efforts of the North Carolina AIDS Action Network and Equality North Carolina have garnered four million back into the program, it is not enough to help cover the thousands of people who need their medications. I have to ask, why cut this program so significantly? Isn’t there some type of red-tape you can cut? How about cutting unnecessary paperwork and converting to digital records across the state? There has to be another option here. A program like ADAP should be a program that is recession proof. Cutting the funds for medications people need to reach their optimal wellness despite HIV/AIDS should not be on the list. But we now see that that isn’t a care to the state. The state just wants to just save money. Maybe you should have done your homework Raleigh, because the effects of ADAP are deadly. In 2003, four people in South Carolina died while on their ADAP waiting list, five in Kentucky, and three in West Virginia. Do you want that on your conscious North Carolina? Do you want those deaths on your hands? I think not. To those who are as outraged as I am about this get involved. Call and/or write your state senator and representative, get a few friends together and visit their offices, or touch base with Equality NC and the NC AIDS Action Network to see what you can do. Because if they can’t have a voice, will you be their voice?