Aids Action
Aids Action is a national organization dedicated to fighting AIDS on all fronts–prevention, care, research, housing, and civil rights–and on behalf of all Americans affected by HIV and AIDS. As the national voice on AIDS, AIDS Action educates policy makers and provides leadership and support to the AIDS communities, including our 3,200 member organizations nationwide. AIDS Action speaks for the people with HIV/AIDS and the community-based organizations that serve them throughout the United States — from the largest AIDS service providers to food delivery programs to rural networks to church-based groups.
The grant given to AIDS Action was used for meaningful access to quality care and for preventing new infections. Meaningful access to care means that people living with HIV and AIDS have access both to quality care and to the information and support they need to make decisions about their care and treatment. Because Medicaid is the health-care safety net for most people living with HIV and AIDS, expanding the Medicaid program is a top priority. AIDS Action has continued to advocate for an expansion of the Medicaid program to cover low-income people living with HIV who are not yet disabled by AIDS. They have also been interviewing treatment adherence programs to define best practices and model programs for helping people with HIV disease make treatment decisions that work for them. In the area of preventing new infections, AIDS Action has been conducting a comprehensive survey of their community-based members to develop a data-based analysis of what is happening in HIV prevention at the community level. AIDS Action has developed an award-winning HIV Prevention website. They have held forums on HIV prevention and re developing recommendations for policy makers and community-based organizations based on forum deliberations. AIDS Action is also developing a guide to new HIV-testing technologies, such as rapid testing and alternate collection systems, for community-based organizations. AIDS Action has been working with policy makers and community leaders to implement AIDS Action’s 10-point national HIV prevention plan, “The Virtual Vaccine”.
Aids Action is currently rededicating themselves to reauthorizing the Ryan White CARE Act. If the CARE Act is not reauthorized this year, there will be serious social consequences. This crucial legislation provides: medications for those whose lives depend on it, comfort and care for those who are the most ill, and vital support for families, especially for children and young adults. The Ryan White CARE Act provides vital money to help fund programs that are fighting HIV/AIDS throughout the country.