Bernie Sanders Angers HIV/AIDS Activists by Misrepresenting Meeting

[RandySF]

Bernie Sanders met with HIV/AIDS activists on Wednesday and then pissed them off by putting out a press release suggesting that their meeting was about his endorsement of AIDS Healthcare Foundation’s ballot initiative to lower prices for taxpayer-supported AIDS treatments.

Activist Peter Staley lashed out on Facebook after the press release went out:

Feeling used and abused by the Sanders campaign right now. They just issued a press release making it sound like our meeting was about his endorsement of AHF’s drug pricing ballot initiative in CA.

Senator Sanders never brought the issue up during our meeting. WE brought it up near the end, only to tell him that we had been flooded with messages from all the leading AIDS organizations in CA with deep concerns about AHF’s initiative — they are worried it could actually negatively impact access to AIDS drugs.

Those groups have tried to reach the campaign with these concerns but had hit a brick wall. We asked Sanders to designate someone in his campaign to talk with these groups, and he agreed to this.

WE DID NOT ENDORSE AHF’S INITIATIVE.

His campaign should not have issued a press release implying this was a major topic of discussion at the meeting, and that there was general agreement on the Senator’s position on this. Anything but.

http://www.towleroad.com/2016/05/bernie-sanders-angers-hivaids-activists/

[Silver_Witch]

1. Peter....

has often posted his dislike for Bernie. He is a Clinton supporter and I saw this on a gay blog and thought it was so very true....

"Only in America can an HIV/AIDS activist hear “we want to lower the cost of HIV/AIDS medication” and then go online and complain…it’s shameful really, apparently the big activists are puppets of the pharmaceutical industry now…making money of HIV/AIDS…" ~Taskebab

[dlwickham]

2. AHF is the largest HIV/AIDS service group in the world

as such, they have the power that much smaller HIV/AIDS groups don't have when it comes to negotiating drug prices with the pharmaceutical companies

the drug prices that are agreed up on serve as the basis for the price that other groups have to pay

some service providers buy drugs and give them free to the clients that qualify; others pay co-pays for their clients

AHF came out against the use of Truvada in PreP (pre-exposure prophylaxis) for people without HIV. PreP has been shown to be highly effective in preventing the transmission of the virus.

PrEP adherence has been explored by several studies with varying results. However, the growing consensus is that on a personal level the data shows that PrEP is highly effective for individuals when taken as directed. The AHF statement cautions against PrEP as a public health policy, but does not directly address that consensus.

In 2012, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved Truvada for PrEP. In 2014, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), as well as the World Health Organization (WHO), issued PrEP recommendations. AHF claims both the CDC and the WHO issued “misguided” recommendations.

https://www.poz.com/article/ahf-prep-26070-9315

I believe that any criticism that directed at AHF is not political in nature but an attack in their practices which are seen as very self-serving. I truly believe that they want a monopoly on HIV/AIDS services in this country.