Search for a Cure- S.C. sitting on HIV/AIDS 'bomb'

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S.C. sitting on HIV/AIDS 'bomb'

Wednesday, Apr 18, 2007
Posted on Wed, Apr. 18, 2007
S.C. sitting on HIV/AIDS 'bomb'

By WARREN BOLTON

HERE'S ANOTHER instance where South Carolina is first where it would rather be last: More than 80 percent of HIV/AIDS patients on waiting lists for life-saving medications in the United States and its territories live in South Carolina. And many on the Palmetto State's waiting list could stay there until they die — unless legislators exercise leadership and compassion and approve enough money to serve them all.

The S.C. House has placed $3 million in one-time money in its proposed budget to fund the state's AIDS drug assistance program. But health officials and HIV/AIDS advocates say $8 million is needed. (The state already allocates $500,000 annually to the cause.) Here's hoping the Senate better understands the need and proposes ongoing funding that ends the waiting list for good.

South Carolina is one of only two states in the continental United States — Montana is the other — with a waiting list. Alaska and Puerto Rico also have lists. On March 1, there were 571 people on the four waiting lists, according to statehealthfacts.org, the Kaiser Family Foundation Website. Of that number, 463 were South Carolinians. Montana had 20 on its list, while Alaska had 13 and Peurto Rico 75.

South Carolina's list isn't getting smaller. As of Monday, it stood at 540 and counting.

That's unacceptable. South Carolina must do as other states and provide enough money to ensure people who need medication to battle this deadly, communicable disease get it.

I ran into Rep. Joe Neal, D-Richland, several weeks ago, and he told me about the struggle he and others were having trying to convince fellow House members of the need to be concerned about those on the waiting list. Some House members all but said let them die, Rep. Neal said.

Dr. Helmut Albrecht, chief of the Division of Infectious Diseases at the USC School of Medicine, said South Carolina has the greatest problem and the fewest resources. It's easier to get life-saving drugs in Nairobi, Kenya, than in Columbia, he said.

"But there are some, even politicians, who say let them all die," Dr. Albrecht said.

"There's actually almost a genocide going on in the African-American population here," Dr. Albrecht said. About 75 percent of new HIV cases are among African-Americans.

Many who are infected today aren't among the social or political elite and have little clout, Dr. Albrecht said. "The political response? They can ignore us because they can," he said.

Nancy Raley, executive director of the Midlands HIV Care Consortium, said other states have stepped up to provide their citizens with needed medicine, while S.C. patients go lacking. "Somebody on the program has to quit or die for someone else to get on," she said. "That is in the context of this being the hotbed of the HIV crises."

South Carolina ranks in the top 10 in new AIDS cases per 100,000, and Columbia is fifth in the nation in new HIV cases.

With HIV/AIDS having been around more than 25 years, you'd think people would take it seriously. But just the opposite seems to be happening. People are as poorly educated about HIV/AIDS as they've ever been.

Ms. Raley said it's imperative that people become more aware of this epidemic. But it's been a "daunting" task trying to get legislators to understand the depth of the problem, she said. "It's a crisis, and a preventable one."

Dr. Albrecht added: "We have three times as many patients as we had in the '80s and '90s when everybody was talking about it. Now nobody's talking about it."

One reason people don't talk about HIV and AIDS as much is because wonder drugs are keeping patients alive, taking away some of the fear. But that fear could quickly return.

"Without the medications, we return to that time when people were dying very, very rapidly," Ms. Raley said.

Dr. Albrecht said there also is less discussion about HIV and AIDS because the face of the disease has changed. "It's a different population. It's not Rock Hudson anymore," he said. It's no longer a disease that infects gay white men and intravenous drug users. It's more common for HIV/AIDS to be spread by heterosexuals.

Deidre Lawson-Smith, an HIV patient who works for the S.C. HIV-AIDS Council, said it's critical to reduce the stigma and ignorance about HIV/AIDS that's still prevalent. She is helping implement an initiative in 22 churches and faith-based organizations. The program provides education and challenges harmful attitudes and beliefs in churches and communities "People still believe that you get it by touching someone," Ms. Lawson-Smith said.

Dr. Albrecht said people must be educated well before they have to visit him. "I'm always too late. These 13- to 19-year-olds, I see them when they're already ill," he said. "It's very frightening how few people realize on what kind of bomb they're sitting here."

Ms. Lawson-Smith knows what it's like to need medication and not be able to get it. Last year, her health plunged because she couldn't afford treatment. Her insurance company initially refused to pay her claims, and she couldn't get state help. By the time she got help, she had lost time from work and contracted pneumonia, which led to a hospital stay. "I don't want to see anybody else pass away on that waiting list," she said.

Lawmakers should make sure that never happens again.

Reach Mr. Bolton at (803) 771-8631 or wbolton@thestate.com.

Dear Mr. Bolton:

Thank you for your recent editorial in The State newspaper, "S.C. sitting on HIV/AIDS 'bomb". As someone living with HIV/AIDS here in South Carolina and serving as a volunteer AIDS activist, I have been trying to sound this alarm for months. Our state could not only save lives, but could save millions of taxpayer dollars, by taking the steps that neighboring states have already taken to address this epidemic by providing adequate funding for HIV/AIDS medications. HIV/AIDS is unlike many other chronic diseases in that it is communicable. Yet scientists have proven that those on medications are less infectious. I'm desperately trying to make our state elected officials realize that HIV/AIDS in our state is a "pay-me-now-or-pay-me-later" situation -- spending the necessary dollars now will save this state millions of dollars by decreasing hospitalizations and billions of dollars in costs due to lost productivity. A state as poor as ours simply cannot afford to ignore these facts. Our neighboring states of NC, GA and AL have already begun to appropriate money to address the problem. South Carolina lawmakers can no longer afford to simply ignore HIV/AIDS.

Karen Bates, Co-Chair
South Carolina Campaign to End AIDS (SC-C2EA)
Columbia, SC
Phone: 803-750-5259
Email: scaplwa@aol.com
www.campaigntoendaids.org/southcarolina or www.c2ea.org/sc
AIDS isn't over until it's over for everyone. AIDSVote!