">Hiv | time To Restart The Battle Against Hiv/aids
Tom Sheridan is president of the Sheridan Group, which serves public interest advocacy efforts and designs socially responsible public policy initiatives. His client portfolio includes Bono’s ONE Campaign, One Voice Against Cancer, Catholic Charities USA, and the America Forward coalition, and several AIDS-related charities and causes.
Today marks two major events in this country’s history. Twenty years ago, the Ryan White CARE Act became law. And one year ago, Sen. Edward Kennedy passed away, having seen the bill he championed save hundreds of thousands of lives.
In 1990, as I huddled with the senator and his staff to write the nation’s first response to the HIV/AIDS epidemic, we were interrupted and told that Ryan White—the brave 19-year-old who challenged our presumptions and prejudices—was losing his battle with AIDS. Kennedy picked up the phone and asked Ryan’s mother, Jeanne White, if it would be appropriate to name the bill for her dying son. I’ve always admired the grace and courage that enabled Mrs. White to see beyond her grief. Her support helped us pass a disaster assistance bill in response to an urgent national crisis.
We now have fewer deaths, more available drugs and treatments, more systems able to respond. But the initial response, repair, and recovery process has come to an end. Today’s new HIV/AIDS challenges require the same kind of innovation and boldness that we, as a nation, demonstrated two decades ago. So, on this milestone anniversary, I’m compelled to offer this challenge: Let’s honor Senator Kennedy and Ryan White by writing and passing the Ryan White CARE Act 2.0.
Ryan White was written when virtually no drug or pharmaceutical interventions were available, but drug access has nevertheless become the bill’s primary focus. It was written for an epidemic that raged within the gay community, but HIV/AIDS is now a leading cause of death for African Americans, those with substance abuse issues, and for men who have sex with men but don’t identify as gay. The bill couldn’t mention education—in 1990, that was a political hot button. But half of today’s new infections are among those under age 25 who clearly aren’t getting enough HIV/AIDS education
