Important Happenings in HIV/Health Policy

Important Happenings in
HIV/Health Policy

Week Ending: April 27, 2018
By: Matthew Rose & Sable K. Nelson

Potentially Changes to SNAP

SNAP is the country’s most effective anti-hunger program, helping one in eight Americans afford a basic diet. The 2018 Farm Bill passed by the House Agriculture Committee would increase hunger and hardship by taking away or cutting food assistance for many struggling Americans, including parents raising kids, people with disabilities, older workers, low-wage workers, and people temporarily in between jobs. Coming just four months after a tax-cut bill that will cost $1.9 trillion over 10 years and lavish tax cuts on wealthy individuals and large, profitable corporations, the SNAP proposals would further widen the nation’s economic divide.

READ →https://www.vox.com/2018/4/25/17262764/farm-bill-food-stamp-snap-house-republican

Mixed News for Sexual Education

The Good News: Last week, the U.S. District Court for the District of Maryland ruled that HHS’s decision to terminate the City of Baltimore’s and the Healthy Teen Network’s Teen Pregnancy Prevention Program grants was unlawful and ordered HHS to process their continuing award applications. For more information,
READ →https://www.cnn.com/2018/04/26/health/teen-pregnancy-prevention-abstinence/index.html

The Bad News: The Trump Administration introduced of an updated funding guidance for the Teen Pregnancy Prevention Programs (TPPP). The new guidelines require grantees to focus on “sexual risk avoidance” and “sexual risk reduction” programs. “Sexual Risk Avoidance” is code for abstinence only programs. The latest TPPP FOA is filled with these veiled terms to prevent effective, evidence-based sex ed programs. Abstinence-only programs are ineffective and ideologically motivated. The Trump administration wants to fund medically inaccurate, anti-LGBTQ, non-evidence based, abstinence only sex ed programs. LGBTQ youth need accurate, affirming, age-appropriate, and comprehensive education to make informed decisions about their health and relationships. Trump admin’s funding guidelines for Teen Pregnancy Prevention ignore this reality. For more information,
READ →

• https://www.buzzfeed.com/emaoconnor/trump-teen-abstinence-programs?utm_term=.wp3VJRvRMg#.doJ0Y121Kv
• https://www.refinery29.com/2018/04/197244/trump-abstinence-only-education-lgbtq-youth-impact?bucketed=true

What NMAC is Doing About It

• NMAC remains vigilant in its advocacy to protect FY19 government funding and the existence of the social safety net.
• NMAC releaseda Biomedical HIV Prevention “Blueprint” entitled Expanding Access to Biomedical HIV Prevention: Tailoring Approaches for Effectively Serving Communities of Color, a new report that establishes strategies to effectively use techniques such as Pre-Exposure Prophylaxis (PrEP) and Treatment as Prevention (TasP) to end the HIV epidemic in communities of color. The full report can be found by visiting nmac.org/blueprint.
• NMAC will participate in a TPPP and FOA tweet-out on Thursday, May 3 between 2pm-3pm ET. Follow hashtags #TPPP #Evidenceoverideology #LGBTQ on Twitter.

What You Can Do

TAKE ACTION: Speak truth to power by sharing your personal stories with your elected officials. It is vitally important to meet your federal elected officials when they are at home. If we don’t support and advocate for HIV funding and programs, who will? Our movement cannot afford to stand on the sidelines. Your U.S. Senators and U.S. Representatives need to hear from you.

• Find your U.S. Senators: https://www.senate.gov/general/contact_information/senators_cfm.cfm
• Find your U.S. Representative: https://www.house.gov/representatives/find-your-representative

Also, MAKE SURE THAT YOU ARE REGISTERED TO VOTE in time for the primary and general elections happening this year

For more information, VISIT→ https://www.eac.gov/voters/register-and-vote-in-your-state/

Finally, PARTICIPATE IN THE PRIMARY ELECTION(S) in your state:

For more information, VISIT→ http://www.ncsl.org/research/elections-and-campaigns/2018-state-primary-election-dates.aspx