Nov 30th Ft Lauderdale Rally Highlights Crisis in Florida’s AIDS Drug Program

[Guest guest]

Nov 30th Ft Lauderdale Rally Highlights

Crisis in Florida's AIDS Drug Program

Floridians Invited to Mobilize to Address Crisis in Florida's AIDS

Drug Assistance Program

Florida—with Nation's Third Largest HIV/AIDS Case Load—Has

Put Over 2,200 HIV/AIDS

Patients on an ADAP Waiting List to Access Lifesaving Medications

Rally Tuesday, November 30th at 5 pm, Federal Building, Ft. Lauderdale

Ft. Lauderdale Rally

Save Florida AIDS Patients! Save ADAP!

WHAT:

WHEN: TUESDAY, November 30th – 5:00 PM

WHERE: Federal Building, Ft. Lauderdale

299 East Broward (at 3rd Ave., Ft Lauderdale, FL 33301)

WHO: Mike Kahane, AHF Southern Bureau Chief

Lydia S. Gresham, Director of Operations, AHF Southern Bureau

King, AHF Pharmacy Specialist/Patient Advocate

Vellequette, AHF Associate Director of Public Health, Southern

Bureau

and People living with HIV/AIDS, Advocates, Community leaders

CONTACTS: King, AHF Pharmacy Specialist/Patient Advocate (954)

610-3064

Vellequette, AHF Associate Dir. of Public Health, Southern Bureau,

(954) 494-5016

FT LAUDERDALE (November 26, 2010) On the eve of World AIDS Day (December

1st), AIDS

Healthcare Foundation (AHF) will host an evening rally starting at 5pm

in front of the Federal Building in

Ft. Lauderdale (299 East Broward @ 3rd Avenue) to mobilize the community

about Florida's growing crisis

with its federally funded, state run AIDS Drug Assistance Program (ADAP)

that pays for life-saving AIDS

drugs for low-income Americans. In response to severe budget shortfalls,

the State of Florida instituted

a waiting list for ADAP patients on June 1, 2010. Since then, over 2,200

Floridians have been placed on

the state's list awaiting access to potentially lifesaving

antiretroviral AIDS medications. Presently there are

more than, 4,100 people in nine states on ADAP waiting lists—over

half of whom are in Florida.

Beginning of next month, 350 current Florida recipients of ADAP benefits

will also be removed from the

rolls of Florida's ADAP and as a result they will no longer be able

to obtain their lifesaving medication

through this federally funded program. The Florida AIDS Drug Assistance

Program, commonly referred to

become infected and diagnosed with HIV/AIDS; each year thousands of

newly diagnosed HIV patients

turn to ADAPs because they cannot afford their medicines.

" Although some money is being funneled Florida's way, ADAP will

still require millions of dollars more

to accommodate its patient load, " said Kahane, Southern

Bureau Chief for AIDS Healthcare

Foundation. " With a bleak job market, many HIV patients who have

lost their employment rely on this

program to receive the lifesaving medications they need. Thousands are

teetering on the brink of therapy

interruption here in Florida as well as in other states with waiting

lists. We urge people in Florida to join us

at this Ft. Lauderdale rally to save ADAP as well as contact their

elected representatives urging them to

act now to save ADAP. "

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AIDS Healthcare Foundation (AHF), the largest global AIDS organization,

currently provides medical care and services to more

than 140,000 individuals in 22 countries worldwide in the US, Africa,

Latin America/Caribbean, the Asia/Pacific region and Eastern

Europe. www.aidshealth.org

In FLORIDA, AHF serves more than 15,000 Floridians living with HIV/AIDS

through a variety of programs, including free HIV testing

and prevention programs; HIV/AIDS health care centers located in Ft.

Lauderdale, Miami and ville, eight AHF Pharmacies

located throughout the state, a statewide disease management program;

and its Positive Healthcare Managed Care program.