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OPINION


HIV/AIDS IS STILL A HEALTH CONCERN BUT REPUBLICAN LAWMAKERS ARE PULLING CRITICAL
RESOURCES


HIV REMAINS A SIGNIFICANT PUBLIC HEALTH CONCERN. BY POLITICIZING HEALTHCARE
ACCESS, REPUBLICANS ARE PROLONGING THE CRISIS. WILL WE ALLOW KENTUCKY
LEGISLATORS TO FOLLOW SUIT?

Blake Skidmore
Opinion Contributor


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Republican officials are disrupting critical efforts to treat and prevent
HIV/AIDS at the national and state levels. They are cutting funding and
weakening existing prevention and treatment efforts that benefit communities
that experience disproportionate HIV risk and lower access to HIV care. These
actions are cynical and proxies to the larger Republican strategy of weaponizing
social issues to unify conservative voters while undermining effective and
proven public health strategies and harming groups that have been historically
marginalized. The attacks are dangerous and may not stop soon.


THERE IS STILL NO CURE OR VACCINE FOR HIV BUT TREATMENT HAS GOTTEN BETTER

There is still no cure or vaccine for HIV; however, interventions like
anti-retroviral treatment and pre-exposure prophylaxis have changed the HIV/AIDS
care landscape, playing critical roles in the fight to end the pandemic. In 2016
alone, ART prevented 1.2 million deaths globally. Yet, despite the incredible
progress in treatment and prevention, the pandemic still disproportionately
harms people who have been economically and socially marginalized. AIDS-related
illnesses kill nearly 1 million people each year. Of the 1.2 million people in
the U.S. living with HIV, over 65% are non-white, with Black people accounting
for 40% of new HIV diagnoses annually. In addition, LGBTQ+ communities, people
of color, people experiencing homelessness and those who inject drugs are all
disproportionately impacted by HIV. Social and structural issues,
discrimination, poverty and limited access to high-quality health care are top
contributors to these disparities.




REPUBLICANS ARE PULLING CRITICAL RESOURCES THAT HELP PREVENT HIV

With the crisis still underway, Republicans are pulling critical resources. Two
recent incidents typify their attack. In March, a Republican-appointed federal
judge struck down a requirement under the Affordable Care Act that covered
preventive health services at no cost to patients, including PrEP access (the
HIV prevention drug). The judge stated that mandated PrEP coverage violates
employer’s religious beliefs by “making them complicit in facilitating
homosexual behavior, drug use, and sexual activity outside of marriage between
one man and one woman.”  



Earlier this year, Tennessee Governor Bill Lee shockingly rejected more than $8
million in federal funding for HIV prevention – despite Tennessee having some of
the highest rates of new infections nationally. Sources claim the decision was
motivated by anti-LGBTQ sentiment within the party, regardless the decision will
cripple Tennessee’s ability to curb its current epidemic. In both cases,
Republicans seem unalarmed by the toll this will take on take on the citizenry.


REPUBLICAN-LED ATTACKS ARE PROLONGING A PREVENTABLE PUBLIC HEALTH CRISIS

Kentuckians who aspire to have equitable, just, and safe communities should be
alarmed. We need to name these attacks for what they are. We must organize and
advocate to protect and increase the public health resources that serve us all
and safeguard people struggling against marginalization. Republican-led attacks
are going to make people die faster and prolong a preventable public health
crisis. Similar actions would be devastating in a state like Kentucky, which is
sorely under-resourced. We have access to miraculous medications that could end
this crisis and evidence that good state-level policies are effective (New York
and California). Please raise the alarm now in your community; there are new
threats to HIV treatment and prevention. Engage your local advocacy groups.
Contact your legislator and voice your commitment to HIV treatment and
prevention. Demand that our elected officials ensure funding for healthcare
efforts foundational to the well-being of all Kentuckians.  



Blake Skidmore LCSW (he/him) is a researcher at the University of Louisville,
Kent School of Social Work and Family Science. He works on an NIH-funded study
focused on HIV prevention, examining the interplay between Pre-Exposure
Prophylaxis (PrEP) adherence, alcohol use, and microbial gut health.


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