via PWN-USA
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact: Olivia Ford, oford.pwnusa@gmail.com / 347.553.5174
Women with HIV Demand a Minimum Standard of Care, Bold New Initiatives to Ensure High-Quality Services for Black Women and Transgender Women of Color
April 13, 2015 – Washington, DC. The next National HIV/AIDS Strategy (NHAS) must include factors vital to the survival and well-being of women living with HIV, according to Positive Women's Network – USA (PWN-USA), a national membership organization representing women living with HIV.
Today, PWN-USA released a set of recommendations for consideration by the Office of National AIDS Policy (ONAP) as it develops the second iteration of the National HIV/AIDS Strategy. Among the recommendations is a demand for a minimum national standard of care for people living with HIV, which would include clinical and non-clinical quality of life guidelines. PWN-USA also strongly recommends developing a national initiative focused on access and quality of care for Black women living with HIV, and taking action to ensure transgender women's access to culturally relevant prevention and services.
"As people with HIV are living longer, and are dependent on diverse sources of coverage for care and services, it is past time to define a national standard of high-quality care for people with HIV," says Sharon DeCuir, a Baton Rouge-based service provider who serves as Vice Chair of the Board of PWN-USA. "This particularly applies in the South, where the impact of HIV is heaviest and most states have failed to expand Medicaid." Continue reading...
