Electeds recognize
Nat’l Black HIV/AIDS
Awareness Day
BY JASON COHEN
New York City has come a
long way since being ground
zero for the HIV/AIDS epidemic.
While the numbers of
diagnosed patients are down,
there is still a ways to go.
On Friday, February 7,
elected offi cials and medical
professionals held a press conference
at Union Community
Health Center, 260 E. 188th
Street to commemorate the
20th anniversary of the National
Black HIV/AIDS Awareness
Day.
Council members Ritchie
Torres and Vanessa Gibson
were joined by Stephanie
Howze, vice president of member
experience at Amida Care,
Dr. Octavio Liriano, VIP Community
Services, Jackie Johnson,
Bronx resident, community
activist and Amida Care
member and Dr. Douglas York,
CEO of Union Community
Health Center.
“We need to remove stigmas
that plague the community,”
From left to right (Dr. Octavio Liriano, VIP Community Services, Vanessa Salcedo, MD of Union Community
Health Center, Council Member Ritchie Torres, Council Member Vanessa Gibson, Dr. Douglas York, Stephane
Howze, Vice President of Member Experience, Amida Care, Jackie Johnson, Bronx resident, community activist
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and Amida Care member and Dr. Jae Ahn, CMO, Union at the Press Conference on National Black HIV/AIDS
Awareness Day on Feb. 7 at : Union Community Health Center. Schneps Media Jason Cohen
Gibson said. “People need to
get tested.”
Between 2017-2018, the city
experienced an 11 percent drop
in the annual number of new
HIV diagnoses, putting Governor
Cuomo’s goal of ending
the HIV/AIDS epidemic by the
close of 2020 within reach.
African-Americans, while
representing 13 percent of our
country’s population, account
for 43 percent of new HIV diagnoses,
according to the CDC.
The Bronx continues to be
disproportionately impacted
by the epidemic too - 23% of
New Yorkers with HIV (30,749
people) live in the borough.
The HIV diagnosis rates in
neighborhoods like Crotona-
Tremont and Fordham-Bronx
Park are about 1.5 times higher
the citywide average.
Torres praised Amida Care
and organizations like it for
helping people living with HIV
or AIDS, but said the major issue
is the drug companies.
Amida Care is a non-profi t
that specializes in providing
health coverage to New Yorkers
with complex conditions,
including HIV and behavioral
health disorders.
However in December 2019,
the Trump administration
launched an initiative to provide
thousands of uninsured
Americans HIV preventive
medicine at no cost.
Being there are no cost regulations
for drug companies,
medicine like Truvada, which
can help can treat HIV infection
and reduce the risk of HIV
infection, can cost as much as
$2,000 for people with no insurance.
“The barriers of accessing
prep are overwhelming in boroughs
like the Bronx,” Torres
said.
According to Torres, the
city council is investing $6.7
million into grassroots organizations
to proactively help
people.
“The epidemic isn’t about
administering a drug, it’s
about ensuring that every
New Yorker has access to safe
and affordable housing, safety
and healthcare,” Torres commented.
One person who knows
about the struggle fi rst hand is
Johnson, who has been living
with the disease for 16 years
and undetectable for 15.
Johnson, who moved to New
York 16 years ago, stressed how
important it is to take care of
oneself, get tested and never be
ashamed of having the disease.
Today, medicine allows people
to live fulfi lling lives.
“It is important that you
take medication,” Johnson
said. “It is important that you
have a support team. ”
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