Congress all but says DROP DEAD to New Jerseyans with HIV and AIDS. Here you can e-mail Congress.

by: Steven Goldstein, Garden State Equality chair

Tue Sep 26, 2006 at 12:35:23 PM EDT

Congress is about to reauthorize the Ryan White Act -- the federal funding law for HIV and AIDS prevention and treatment -- by forcing mind-boggling funding cuts upon states like New Jersey, New York and California.  But especially upon New Jersey, which ranks FIFTH IN THE NATION IN REPORTED CASES OF HIV AND AIDS.

And which states will receive significantly increased funding under the planned reauthorization of Ryan White?  States like Alabama and North Carolina.  States with a tiny fraction of the HIV and AIDS caseload that New Jersey has.

Let's be real:  The Republican-controlled Congress is showing favoritism to Republican states.  The result will be the utter decimation of AIDS prevention and treatment programs in New Jersey, including impeding the heroic work of New Jersey's extraordinary statewide HIV and AIDS organization, Hyacinth. 

Hyacinth, which you can visit at www.Hyacinth.org to learn more and even make an online donation in their website's "What Can I Do?" section, may be the nation's most effective HIV and AIDS service organization.  This, even though Hyacinth's government funding is painfully insufficient as it is.  What our friends at Hyacinth achieve with so few resources is one of the great social-service successes of our time.

Already down to the funding bone, Hyacinth, as well as the other AIDS service providers in New Jersey, have not an ounce of room to absorb the cuts proposed in Congress.

Make no mistake:  THERE WILL BE NEW JERSEYANS WITH HIV AND AIDS WHO WILL DIE BECAUSE OF CONGRESS' MASSIVE FUNDING CUTS TO NEW JERSEY.  That is no exaggeration. 

The most grotesque part of all? 

CONGRESS' REAUTHORIZATION PLAN WILL WREAK THE MOST HAVOC -- UNBEARABLE HAVOC -- ON WOMEN AND PEOPLE OF COLOR WITH HIV AND AIDS IN NEW JERSEY. 

Among all U.S. states, New Jersey ranks #1 in the percentage of people with HIV or AIDS who are women.

56 percent of all New Jerseyans with HIV or AIDS are African-American.  One in every 63 African-Americans in New Jersey is living with HIV or AIDS, compared to one in every 775 whites in New Jersey.  AIDS is the fifth biggest killer of African-Americans in New Jersey.  AIDS is the fifth biggest killer of Latinos and Latinas in New Jersey. 

So how dare we not tell it like it is?  Congress' new Ryan White reauthorization plan has bone-chilling implications of sexism and racism.  It is vile.

WHAT CAN YOU DO ABOUT IT?

The wonderful Congressman Frank Pallone (D-Monmouth and Ocean Counties), one of America's greatest champions of equality and of the rights of people with HIV and AIDS, has introduced a bill to reauthorize the Ryan White Act for one year at its long-existing funding levels -- meaning the horrible cuts to New Jersey's  HIV and AIDS prevention and treatment programs would be avoided for now.

We at Garden State Equality now ask you to go to http://eqfed.org/cam... to e-mail our prewritten letter to your member of the U.S. House and to New Jersey's two U.S. Senators.  The letter asks them to vote for Congressman Pallone's bill that is fair to New Jersey -- and to vote no on the evil "Barton Bill" that would decimate HIV and AIDS prevention and treatment funding for New Jersey.

Please e-mail our letter now, not later today.  We are racing against time:  Congressman Pallone's bill will come up for a vote likely within the next 48 hours, and both houses of Congress must reauthorize the Ryan White Act by September 30th.  THIS IS OF URGENT, GRAVE CONSEQUENCE TO THE THOUSANDS OF PEOPLE ACROSS NEW JERSEY WHOSE LIVES ARE AT STAKE.

Again, please go to http://eqfed.org/cam... to e-mail letters to your members of Congress.  This may be one of the most important political actions you ever take.  It could save the lives of thousands.

With deep gratitude,
Steven Goldstein
on behalf of all of us at Garden State Equality
Goldstein@GardenStateEquality.org
Cell (917) 449-8918
www.GardenStateEquality.org

They Did Not Have To Die

by: huntsu

Wed Sep 20, 2006 at 01:38:37 PM EDT

Yesterday, State Senator Tom Kean Jr. voted against a bill that would permit needle exchanges in the state of New Jersey.  New Jersey is the last state not to allow a needle exchange program to stem the tide of HIV/AIDS.

Without mentioning Tom Kean Jr., columnist Tom Moran calls this exactly as it should be seen:

Later that day, a compromise bill providing for six pilot programs across the state passed the Senate Health Committee, along with $10 million more for drug treatment.

What changed? For one, New Jersey has become the last holdout in the nation, the only state in the country where a drug ad dict cannot legally obtain a clean needle.

That means addicts here are more likely to share needles, more likely to get AIDS, and more likely to pass on the agony of this disease to their infant children. ...

  Gov. Jon Corzine got involved, pressing recalcitrant Democrats. So did Senate President Richard Codey, who hammered out the compromise with Sen. Joe Vitale, the committee chairman.

It was a good day for public health in New Jersey.

But it has taken way too long. You almost want to light a candle for the many people who were lost over the last decade or so while the politicians in Trenton dithered. They did not have to die.

They ... did ... not ... have ... to ... die.

I hope that line wakes Tom Kean Jr. up in the middle of the night.

The Politics of Syringe Exchange Part 3 of 4: Opposition

by: Brian McGinnis

Mon Aug 28, 2006 at 03:45:54 PM EDT

Briefly to recap, a number of facts are crucial: New Jersey’s rate of HIV transmission through injection is nearly twice the national average. Needle exchange programs have been proven to reduce the rate of transmission of bloodborne pathogens, including HIV, hepatitis C and others. And with Delaware’s recent passage of needle exchange legislation, New Jersey remains the only state to explicitly forbid such life-saving programs.

You might wonder how, in the face of such overwhelming scientific evidence, some New Jersey leaders might still justify holding up needle exchange. You might wonder what reason or strategy they’d cite in opposing programs that are proven to effectively fight HIV transmission, especially considering New Jersey has the fifth highest HIV/AIDS rate nationally, including the highest rate of infection among women, and the third highest pediatric infection rate.

The answer isn't easy.

Ron Rice - Gaming the System

by: Media In Trouble

Tue Feb 28, 2006 at 03:48:47 PM EST

Senator Rice's justification is that tax assessors are apparently overwhelmed with requests for these records since they are the keepers of the cards.

We should be moving towards more open government not a more secretive one. If tax assessors are overwhelmed then put these records on the internet and be done with it.

It is extremely rare that I agree with things that appear on the Asbury Park Press editorial page but in this case they hit a bullseye. Go read the whole thing.

Then call Ron Rice's Office at (973) 371-5665 and tell him he is supposed to be serving his constituents in Newark, not himself and his buddies in the Real Estate business.

Oh... While you have him on the horn, ask him why he keeps letting NJ be in the dark ages when it comes to our AIDS policy, which happens to affect his district disproportionately.

AIDS and Needle Exchange Program

by: Media In Trouble

Thu Dec 01, 2005 at 02:51:01 PM EST

Where do NJ AIDS statistics stand?:

In NJ nearly half of all new HIV cases in the state are related to injection drug use, nearly twice the national average, New Jersey is one of only five states that require a prescription to purchase a syringe and, along with neighboring Delaware, one of only two states that have not passed laws explicitly allowing needle exchange programs (NEPs).