Dozens of activists from ACT UP Philadelphia boarded a bus Tuesday on World AIDS Day for the two-hour drive to Harrisburg. They were on their way to hear Dr. Rachel Levine, physician general of Pennsylvania, speak on the state Health Department’s policy goals for HIV.
The activists want Wolf to commit to ending AIDS in Pennsylvania by 2020, a pledge that governors in New York and Washington made for their states last year.
Jeff Sheridan, Wolf’s press secretary, told PGN he couldn’t offer a timeline for if or when the governor might commit to a pledge. He said the administration views Levine’s speech “as a way to raise awareness about HIV/AIDS in Pennsylvania and continue the conversation as we move into the New Year.”
“This is something that’s hugely important to the governor,” Sheridan said.
Levine discussed issues that affect people living with HIV that Wolf has tackled since taking office, including eliminating the asset test to determine eligibility for the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, called SNAP, and increasing funding for the housing trust fund.
ACT UP organizers said they do not anticipate Wolf making any formal commitment regarding HIV/AIDS until the Republican-controlled legislature resolves issues over the state budget with Democrats and the governor. Still, they noted the importance of Levine’s speech in Harrisburg on World AIDS Day.
“It finally means we have a governor that takes HIV and AIDS seriously,” said Jose de Marco, longtime organizer with ACT UP Philadelphia. “All people’s lives are valuable. This is a public-health issue.”
De Marco said the state should help health-care professionals prioritize screening patients for those who may be at risk of contracting HIV, especially people of color. He wanted doctors to talk to patients about options like pre-exposure prophylaxis, called PrEP, which has been shown to be effective at preventing HIV.
“I’ve been around since the beginning of this epidemic,” de Marco said. “If there was a pill back then like PrEP, we’d all be screaming it from the rooftops. It’s really disappointing how few people know about this.”
Max Ray-Riek, an ACT UP volunteer, said people with HIV have benefited in the state’s move to equip all emergency responders with naloxone, a prescription drug that can reverse the effects of an opiate overdose. He said people with HIV are more likely to overdose and naloxone’s availability decreases the stigma for people to receive emergency medical care for drug use.
To further combat HIV/AIDS in Pennsylvania, Ray-Riek said he’d like a state plan to focus on making sure people with the virus have stable housing.
“Unstable housing is probably the biggest barrier to care,” he said, noting it causes people to focus more on where they will sleep versus how they will maintain their health.
ACT UP organizers said they have been in contact with Wolf about HIV/AIDS resources in the state since he was a candidate. During the primaries, the organization asked each candidate to respond to questions about his or her positions on policies that could affect people living with HIV/AIDS. To read Wolf’s responses to ACT UP’s questionnaire, visit http://ow.ly/VgEsy.