HIV Prevention is Needed Now More than Ever
New York, NY (November 26, 2008) - This year, World AIDS Day marks the possibility of a turning point in the domestic fight against HIV and AIDS. Prevention is, rightly, at the top of the national HIV agenda, but it must be conceived of broadly to maximize outcomes.
“As we look to new leadership to retool our national struggle against the AIDS epidemic, our federal and state governments must remember that a comprehensive prevention agenda encompasses not only education and testing, but also services that foster security and a living environment conducive to safe practices,” said Tracy L. Welsh, Executive Director at HIV Law Project.
While comprehensive sex education and expanded routine voluntary HIV-testing are important to our nation’s prevention strategy, an investment in services that sustain the health and the stability of people living with HIV/AIDS are critical. Legal services for people with HIV/AIDS, including eviction prevention, defense against predatory credit agencies, securing disability benefits, and regularizing someone’s immigration status, work to keep the most destructive and insidious forces of poverty at bay.
“For people living with HIV/AIDS a roof over their head, a meal on their table, and opportunities to earn their own living can make the difference between maintaining their health or not, and between engaging in safe behaviors or not,” said Ms. Welsh.
People living with HIV/AIDS are at a higher risk of becoming homeless than the general population. In NYC at any given time, it is estimated that 24% of people living with AIDS are homeless or living in unstable housing situations. A recent study by the Centers for Disease Control confirms that homeless individuals living with HIV are more likely to engage in behaviors that increase risk for transmitting HIV. Legal services such as eviction prevention and procuring financial entitlements can prevent future HIV infections by keeping people out of situations that increase the risk of transmission.
Unfortunately, legal services as prevention are often sacrificed in lean economic times. “If our national HIV agenda is to be robust and if our fight is to achieve real outcomes, we need to recognize that direct legal services are a necessary component for achieving lasting prevention goals and we need to fund such services appropriately,” said Ms. Welsh.