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Proposal Details

Proposal ID	937
Proposal	2018 Platform Amendment HIV-AIDS
Presenter	Platform Committee Sponsored by Lavender Caucus
Floor Manager	Andrea Merida
Phase	Closed
Discussion	10/04/2018 - 10/14/2018
Voting	10/15/2018 - 10/21/2018
Result	Adopted
Presens Quorum	33 0.6666
Consens Quorum	56 0.6666 of Yes and No Votes

Background

Since 2004 the section in the Green Party Platform addressing HIV/AIDS has not been updated except for one sentence being deleted. The Lavender Caucus believes that this proposal updates the current approved platform (2016) and keeps the intent of the original authors intact.

Proposal

Proposal: Amend Chapter II, Social Justice Section F. Health Care Sub-section 2 by replacing the current language with:

The Green Party calls for comprehensive, humane, and competent care of all people with HIV/AIDS.

The AIDS epidemic has not had adequate public health management at all government levels. Drug corporations have a strong profit motive to encourage for medical management of those with HIV by using medication that keeps the virus from being detected in the blood. This means there are guaranteed sales of very expensive drugs. Rather than invest in research for a cure like they have done with Hepatitis C, the drug companies invest in drugs that manage a chronic illness. The Green Party believes that this failure to invest in research for a cure is because mainstream society has the belief that contracting HIV is self-inflicted by "sinful” or "illegal" behavior. The largest groups with HIV/AIDS in the USA are men who have sex with men, including gay, bisexual, and trans men, and men of color, particularly of African and Latinx descent. Persons who share needles are the next largest group of persons with HIV/AIDS in the USA. While HIV drug treatment regimens have saved lives, some people suffer from debilitating side effects where quality of life is poor. There is also the economic side effect due to the high cost of these life-saving medications.

We recommend the following actions:
a. Increased public education in transmission prevention which includes funding for the purchase and distribution of condoms, gloves, dams, and needles & syringes.
b. Increased funding for age appropriate comprehensive sex education that includes use of barriers for prevention of fluid/blood transmission. We support students having easy access to condoms, gloves, and dams in schools.
c. Increased funding for research focusing on a cure in addition to chronic disease management.
d. Creation of a repository for the latest peer reviewed theories, studies, and findings, and to facilitate sharing among research laboratories, schools and universities, medical centers, and public health facilities that would be accessible for common good rather than kept proprietary for profit.
e. Funding for methods of peer education for sex workers and those who may share needles, and to supply them with condoms, dams, gloves, and needles & syringes.
f. Educating incarcerated individuals in HIV transmission prevention and supplying them with condoms, dams, and gloves. Additionally, remove barriers to access of medicines for incarcerated individuals with HIV/AIDS, and Hepatitis C.
g. Increased funding for educating the public about addiction and funding for treatment facilities for addicts, and for transitional housing to help with society re-entry.
h. Education and funding for addiction harm reduction practices, including available needle exchange programs for those individuals with substance use problems who are not yet ready to enter treatment programs.
i. Immediate increases in funding for programs that ensure all individuals with HIV/AIDS who want housing or treatment are able to obtain such promptly. No individuals with HIV should ever spend a single night on the streets or be turned away from treatment due to their economic status. We advocate for creating daily HIV medication distribution centers for individuals who are unable to manage the complex daily medication regimen without assistance.
j. Increased funding for free, anonymous testing of people for the presence of HIV/AIDS. No mandated testing.
k. Full funding to ensure broad access to Pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) programs, which have been proven by researchers to minimize transmission of HIV and reduce public health costs by preventing the need for expensive, lifelong HIV treatment regimens. The Green Party calls for our governments to make every effort to negotiate fair and reasonable prices for associated drugs, rather than allowing manufacturers to extract excessive profits from these life-saving medications.
l. Funding for outreach and treatment to address the particular circumstances and specific needs of the various communities affected by HIV/AIDS.
m. More research into better methods of prevention of HIV infection. While we support condom use, better condoms are also required. We support more vaccine research as well as research on prevention methods such as microbicides. People must be provided the means and support to protect themselves from all sexually transmitted and blood & body fluid borne diseases.
n. A repeal of all HIV criminalization laws and policies and release all prisoners imprisoned solely due to HIV status.
o. Restore full federal health funding for persons living with HIV.

Resources

Approval of this proposal will amend the 2018 GPUS Platform,

CONTACTS:
Platform Committee - Bruce Hinkforth, co-chair, bhinkforth@milwpc.com, 262-569-1370; Linda Cree, co-chair, creelinda@hotmail.com, 906-942-7076
Lavender Caucus - Gini Lester, lvlginnl@gmail.com

References

None

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