There is a devastating, yet little known, public health crisis in America. There are thousands of HIV-positive individuals being denied life-saving medications due to budget restrictions. This is the ADAP Crisis.

ADAP, or AIDS Drug Assistance Program, is a vital program that assists HIV-positive individuals with paying for the incredibly expensive medications needed to treat and manage this devastating disease. Without these essential medications, a person’s HIV disease is more likely to progress and become life-threatening. ADAP funding is being slashed in most states across the country. Thousands of HIV-positive people have been terminated from their state programs outright and thousands more are being placed on growing waiting lists.

There are currently 5,779 people on ADAP waiting lists in 10 states. 

For Louisiana there are currently 621 people on their state's ADAP waiting list. This is a major crisis by itself. Yet Louisiana takes it one step further: they capped the enrollment to the program.  This means that NO ONE can get in the program at all, whether directly or onto a waiting list. For anyone who is newly infected, anyone who loses their employment or insurance coverage, anyone who has their disease progress to the point of needed more medications, the Louisiana ADAP program gives them a big fat middle finger. This number of 621 is most likely an under-estimation as certainly there are more residents in need of services. These individuals are experiencing an even more traumatic crisis. They will not be enrolled into ADAP, nor will they even be added to a long waiting list with the slightest hope of ever being admitted to the program, nor will they even be counted or acknowledged. This is not only bad medicine and politics, it's down-right dehumanizing.

It is a fact that those living with HIV are living longer, healthier lives. HIV/AIDS is no longer the "death sentence" it seemingly was at the start of the epidemic. Yet apparently my next statement will be a newsflash to health officials around the nation: it's because of these life-saving medications that people are living with, and not dying from, HIV, not in spite of them. All HIV+ people need access to these vital medications to ensure they continue to lead healthy, productive lives.

Most often the argument is to save money in the short term to save the overall program in the long run. Nothing could be less cost-effective than this. Those without their meds will see a decline in their health. This is not an assumption, it is a clear fact. Once these patients see a drop in their CD4 counts and a rise in their viral load, they will be susceptible to further medical complications, more intensive health issues, and  a need for more intensive and costly medical intervention. If state and health officials choose to only hear talk of dollars and cents, then hear this: Denying medications to HIV-positive patients will without a doubt cost the state millions more in treatment costs. Prevention of progressive disease is always more cost effective than intensive and life-saving treatment. Not to mention more humane.

Please join us in demading Louisiana State Officials to reinstate full ADAP coverage for these vulnerable residents. Urge them to lift the cap on enrollment. All HIV+ people in need of assistance need to be counted. They all need the opportunity and hope for medication coverage.