IDPH Pulls “He’s the One” Ad Campaign
National AIDS Fund Announces Major Grants
Mr. Spraggins Goes to Washington
Avexa Scraps NRTI Apricitabine
Obama Administration’s National Drug Control Policy Applauded
IDPH Pulls “He’s the One” Ad Campaign
An ill-conceived HIV prevention ad campaign with the headline “He’s the One” followed by the tagline, “that could infect you,” was shut down earlier this month amid public outcry that it stigmatized HIV-positive gay men, and actually did more harm than good.
On May 14, the Chicago Tribune reported that the Illinois Department of Public Health (IDPH) has responded to public criticism by pulling the ad campaign which “was to include billboards, posters, public service announcements and an interactive Web site,” and launched in April.
The composite image of a man’s face which comprised one ad drew immediate reaction from the HIV community, and was described as a “Frankenstein-like monster,” which added to the fear-based stigma that already makes disclosure difficult, and only further impeded prevention efforts.
Jeff Ramone, one of the models used in the composite, commented, “One gets the sense that maybe there weren’t a lot of public health people who intervened on this one.”
According to the article Melanie Arnold, spokesperson for IDPH, said, “Our HIV section has been getting calls and they’ve been listening to constituents who say they did not agree with the ad. When we saw [the ad] we were not pleased with it either.”
IDPH, which had the web site shut down, says it is also working to have the ads removed, however there were reports that over the weekend placards were still visible at some Chicago area businesses and locations. When asked to comment further, IDPH spokesperson Melanie Arnold informed PA that the company initially awarded state prevention funding to create the campaign, Diverse Communications, dissolved at the beginning of the year. Hispanicity, an advertising agency which had been sub-contracted by Diverse Communications to do the creative, continued working on the campaign. When asked if focus groups were held, Arnold replied yes, but that at some point there was a “miscommunication,” and IDPH is now trying to ascertain whether the department ever issued final approval. Calls on Monday to Evan Gordon, President and founder of Hispanicity, went unanswered.
National AIDS Fund Announces Major Grants
On May 13, the National AIDS Fund (NAF) announced the awarding of major grants that will enable more than 35 community-based organizations to help improve access to care for people living with HIV/AIDS in five regions of the United States, including the cities of Chicago, New York, and Oakland / San Francisco, and the states of North Carolina and Louisiana. According to the press release, “The grant awards provide an opportunity for geographically and culturally diverse organizations within a region to combine their expertise in the development of community-driven solutions to help enable greater access to HIV/AIDS care and treatment.”
The community grants were made possible through a separate grant from pharmaceutical company Bristol-Myers Squibb (BMS) to the NAF. BMS and the NAF have been collaborating to find ways to break down barriers to access to care for people living with HIV/AIDS. This collaboration is one of the key components of Positive Charge, a Bristol-Myers Squibb initiative launched in December 2009 that has three main goals: enabling people living with HIV/AIDS to access care and treatment; contributing to the scientific agenda; and demonstrating advocacy leadership.
Also on May 13, Anthony C. Hooper, president of Bristol-Myers Squibb and Kandy Ferree, president and CEO of the National AIDS Fund, and other partners, along with representatives from two of the new grantees, participated in a panel discussion at the White House on “the role of public and private partnerships in the three-pillared National HIV/AIDS Strategy (NHAS), and how this important collaboration addresses the NHAS pillar ‘to increase access to care and optimize health outcomes.’”
A webcast of the panel discussion can be viewed online at www.whitehouse.gov.
Mr. Spraggins Goes to Washington
In a related story, as a result of Chicago’s Test Positive Aware Network (TPAN) being one of the recipients of the NAF grant, TPAN’s Louis Spraggins, Treatment Education Coordinator and one of the instructors in its TEAM (Treatment, Education, Adherence, Management) Program, was invited to be one of the two grantee representatives participating in the panel discussion in Washington, D.C.
Spraggins’ knowledge of the needs and disparities among Chicago’s diverse HIV community made his input invaluable and TPAN is proud to have had such a representative present.
ADAP Crisis Task Force, Pharmaceutical Companies and Heinz Family Philanthropies Come to the Aid of ADAPs
With over 1,056 people in the U.S. now on waiting lists for state AIDS Drug Assistance Programs (ADAPs) and many other restrictions in place for individuals who need assistance when accessing their HIV medications, there were several welcome developments that were announced this past week.
The ADAP Crisis Task Force (ACTF) announced that is has reached agreements with Abbott Labs, Merck Pharmaceuticals, and Tibotec Therapeutics to help bridge the gap in funding that has left 10 state AIDS Drug Assistance Programs (ADAPs) in desperate straits. According to a National Association of State and Territorial AIDS Directors (NASTAD) press release dated May 11, favorable negotiations continue between the Task Force and Boehringer-Ingelheim, Genentech, Gilead Sciences, and ViiV Healthcare.
“We are hopeful that agreements similar to these newly announced ones can be completed soon with the remaining manufacturers,” noted Dwayne Haught, Manager of the HIV Medication Program for the Texas Department of State Health Services and a member of the ACTF. “Abbott, Merck and Tibotec have a keen understanding of the ADAP crisis and demonstrated strong leadership by coming to the table with significant financial commitments to assist ADAPs during this crisis. They have gone far beyond the mandated discounts to develop solutions for ADAPs that will help meet the needs of nearly 200,000 HIV-positive Americans,” added Haught.
In another development, Merck announced in a May 6 press release that it is providing increased discounts and extending price freezes for both Isentress and Crixivan to eligible ADAPs until December 31, 2013. Merck will reassess these programs in 2014, after implementation of the newly expanded Medicaid program and subsidized private health insurance plans mandated by health care reform legislation.
In addition, the release states, “Merck is committed to assisting eligible ADAPs with cash flow and to reducing the number of patients waiting to receive treatment. As such, the company has changed its existing state invoice payment processes to accelerate the payment of Merck rebates to eligible ADAPs.”
Patients who are on ADAP waiting lists or who are awaiting ADAP approval may be eligible to receive Isentress or Crixivan for free through Merck’s HIV Support program. For information call 1-800-850-3430 or visit www.isentress.com.
On May 7, Abbott announced that, in collaboration with the Heinz Family Philanthropies, it is working “to come up with solutions that will begin to address the needs of those who are on waiting lists for access to their HIV drugs.”
Abbott is also providing a grant to Welvista, a nonprofit organization that fills prescriptions for patients who are uninsured and underinsured, to help provide for a one-year program to help any patient on a state ADAP waiting list who needs an Abbott HIV medication.
“Enrollment is virtually automatic for anyone certified on an ADAP waiting list and can provide direct access to no-cost Abbott HIV medications through Welvista. Patients who are on ADAP waiting lists and need to access this solution to receive their Abbott medications can request their state ADAP contact Welvista. If need exists after one year, the program may be extended,” Abbott stated.
"AIDS Drug Assistance Programs across the nation are experiencing the worst funding shortfall in many years. Through these efforts, eligible clients currently on the waiting list for ADAPs will be able to obtain Abbott's medications through Welvista," said Ken Trogdon, Chief Executive Officer of Welvista. "Welvista will be working with states across the nation to become their pharmacy connection in providing these patients with Abbott's HIV medications. It is our hope that other private sector partners will join us to further expand the medication reach to even more patients."
Avexa Scraps NRTI Apricitabine
Australian pharmaceutical company Avexa Ltd. announced on May 10 that it is halting development of apricitabine, a nucleoside reverse transcriptase inhibitor that it spent five years and $90 million developing, after failing to secure licensing partners for the drug in the U.S.
“While apricitabine helped suppress the AIDS-causing virus in patients who had resistance to other NRTIs, it required a heavier dose, making it difficult to combine with other drugs,” according to Avexa.
In addition, apricitabine was designed to be taken twice daily, putting it at a disadvantage to Gilead Sciences’ once-daily Truvada and Bristol-Myers-Squibb’s Atripla, a once-daily, three-drug combination pill. Advocates were disappointed at hearing the news as there is still need for additional options for those who develop resistance to currently available drugs in the NRTI class.
Obama Administration’s National Drug Control Policy Applauded
In a press release on May 12, the Legal Action Center (LAC) commended President Obama, the Office of National Drug Control Policy, and Director Kerlikowske, on its new strategy released on May 11. “With an admirable goal of reducing illicit drug use by 15% in five years, the strategy wisely focuses on preventing and treating addiction and promoting recovery after decades of an ineffectual ‘war on drugs.’”
“President Obama's first national drug strategy charts a new—and most welcome—course that for the first time in decades places major emphasis on preventing and treating drug and alcohol problems and helping people with substance use disorders recover," said Paul N. Samuels, director and president of LAC.
The Center particularly supports the changes in policy which follow the recommendations made by LAC in the 2008 report "Roadmap for Smarter and More Effective Alcohol and Drug Policies." Those changes include:
- Expanding community-based prevention.
- Increasing the number of people in treatment through non-discriminatory coverage in both Medicaid and private insurance "at parity" with other illnesses.
- Treating, not incarcerating, those in the criminal justice system struggling with addiction.
- Expanding syringe-exchange and other programs that help stop the spread of HIV.
- Expanding recovery support services.
- Reviewing and rolling back legal barriers that prevent people in recovery from having access to housing, employment, driver's licenses, student loans, and other necessities of life.
- Integrating addiction screening and treatment into primary health care.
"These measures, if implemented effectively, will make the American dream a much healthier one for millions of Americans and their families," Samuels said, but pointed out that funding and decisive action will be critical to effective implementation of the 2010 National Drug Control Strategy. "The administration and Congress must allocate the resources and enact the legislation necessary to make that dream come alive," he said.