Merrell's blog

By David Ernesto Munar

As part of its debt ceiling negotiations, the Obama Administration is on the verge of undermining one of the most significant policies it has put in place to alleviate the nation’s 30-year HIV/AIDS crisis, which directly affects more than 1.2 million Americans.  

In a sad twist of irony, the White House proposal to rollback critical health benefits, essential to the control of HIV/AIDS, is emerging on the one-year anniversary of the National HIV/AIDS Strategy, unveiled by President Obama in July 2010.

The Center on Budget and Policy Priorities reports that the White House is considering deep federal funding cuts for state Medicaid programs, a proposal which could have an immediate, chilling effect on efforts to meet the benchmark goals described in the National HIV/AIDS Strategy.  Moreover, it would render the federal health reform law virtually meaningless for millions of low-income Americans.  

The Dose of Change blog has a new home at doseofchange.org.  Be sure to head over there to subscribe for the lastest updates on the craft of AIDS advocacy.

The Sunlight Foundation has a great piece up on their blog about re-thinking that ubiquitous piece of 21st-century non-profit communication known as 'the advocacy email.'

Many of us working in non-profit/organizing/public policy world receive dozens of advocacy emails everyday, all bearing a remarkably similar format and asking us to complete a remarkably similiar task: read this background information and click here to take action.

So - its not entirely surprising that a few people would find this way of doing things somewhat...dull.

Check out the Sunlight Foundation blog to read how one email recipient, pushed to the brink, shared his ideas on an alternative way to format advocacy emails.

Last week, Senator Bill Nelson (D-FL) sent a letter to key members of the Senate Appropriations Committee urging them to do more to address the ADAP crisis.  These kinds of communications among members of Congress are a key way to influence decision making. 

But where do these letters come from and how does a member of Congress decide in which issues to engage?  Behind each 'Dear colleague' letter there is a story of legislator engagement, education, and relationship building.

Carl Schmid, Deputy Executive Director of The AIDS Institute, was one of the advocates involved in working with Sen. Nelson's staff to generate this letter and kindly agreed to answer a few questions for Dose of Change.

Dose of Change: Sen. Bill Nelson recently sent a letter to the several key members of the Senate Appropriations Committee advocating for a more aggressive response to the ADAP crisis.  What role do these kinds of letters play in an overall advocacy strategy?

Carl Schmid: For positive change to happen, in this case additional money for ADAP, we need members of congress to speak up.  Sen. Nelson is doing that with his letter to Senate Appropriation leaders.  Appropriators react to many pressures, both inside and outside of the Congress, if no Senators speak out, then it would be difficult to get the additional resources.  In the end you have to have advocates amongst the decision makers to carry your message.

DOC: What role did advocates play in the development of this letter?

CS: As a Florida based organization, we have been meeting with Sen. Nelson’s office for a number of weeks to discuss the ADAP situation, which is particularly in bad shape in Florida.  Additionally, people living with HIV/AIDS in Florida, particularly Michael Rajner, had the opportunity to personally discuss the problem with the Senator who said he would help solve it.  Michael, I and others have continued to be in communication with his office, but it was really the advocates in Florida who made it happen.

DOC: What advice do you have for advocates looking to enlist this kind of support for their members of Congress?

CS: It would be great for advocates in other states to do the same.  We really need it.  There is only so much a DC advocate can do.  Members of Congress really react to their constituents.  Advocates must be vocal and persistent; action does not happen overnight.  You have to continue to push and present your facts and your asks.  In this case, it was a great combination of state and federal advocates working together. 

For individuals or groups looking to dive into the world of advocacy, the list of initial questions one must consider before taking the plunge can at times seem daunting. 

Is my agency legally allowed to lobby elected officials?

How do I go about forming a coalition?

What issues do we focus on?

How do we measure success?

If you are asking yourself one or more of these questions, you should take a look at this presentation.  It covers a lot of the most commonly encountered considerations eager advocates face.

Check it out.

Sex Ed is once again making headlines in the wake of the federal government's recent announcement of two wildly different sex education funding opportunities for states.  The first, called Personal Responsibility Education Program (PREP), funds comprehensive, evidence-based sex ed programming.  The second, called Title V, funds abstience-only programming that has been proven ineffective.

As advocates mobilize around pressuring state officials to accept PREP funding over ineffective Title V funds, one website has been providing a forum for young people to engage directly in the conversation.

And engage they have.

When you arrive at Amplify Your Voice, a project of Advocate's for Youth, the page just screams interaction.  Readers are immediately presented with an active blog and countless opportunities to take part in the conversation via social networking sites (and with almost 2,000 fans on Facebook - the are certainly taking part.)

Take a look!

'The social determinants of health'

Its a ten dollar phrase that many of us working in AIDS advocacy have become increasingly accustomed to hearing in recent years.  In many ways, this reflects the welcomed trend of social science and public health researchers deepening their understanding of what many community health advocates have known intuitively for some time: a person's environment and social context affect their health. 

In the context of HIV, this means where a person lives and works, and who they are, can impact their risk for HIV infection or the treatment outcomes of those already living with HIV/AIDS.  We're learning more and more about how people are interconnected with their environment and its becoming increasingly necessary to educate the public and policy makers about the importance of relfecting this increased understanding in how we address health in our communities.

Robert Wood Johnson Foundation recently developed materials aimed at helping all of us do just that.  Check out this great guide, slides, and webinar recording reporting on the results of in-depth research into effective messages on the social determinants of health.

Dose of Change intern-extraordinaire, Lili Gecker, checks-in with this great find from Global Voices Advocacy.

Twitter, Facebook, Myspace—these websites aren’t just for social networking, they can also help your online advocacy campaign. By engaging a variety of online strategies, or crossposting, you can raise awareness, promote your message, attract new supporters and maximize outreach.

Check out this guide to learn more.

AIDS Foundation of Chicago (AFC) was front and center for all of the action at the biennial XVIII International AIDS Conference (AIDS 2010) held last week in Vienna, Austria. 

The biggest story of the conference was the release of exciting research findings showing that an anti-HIV gel, or microbicide, was partially effective at preventing HIV in women in South Africa.  This marks an important step in the development of new prevention technologies.  The International Rectal Microbicides Advocates (IRMA), for which AFC serves as secretariat, hailed the release of the findings and helped explain their significance in the quest for a safe and effective rectal microbicide.

Another much-talked-about subject in Vienna was the Obama Administration’s newly-minted National HIV/AIDS Strategy.  AFC Vice President David Ernesto Munar (pictured) presented a poster on grassroots advocacy around the Strategy and spoke on the topic at a session on HIV/AIDS in the USA and Canada.

Here’s what else AFC was up to at AIDS 2010:

• Arturo Valdivia Bendixen, Vice President of Programs and Partnerships, presented a poster on the Chicago Housing for Health Partnership.

• Jim Pickett, Director of Advocacy, was featured in video coverage of the Global on MSM and HIV pre-conference.  Scroll to the 5:00 mark to see Jim talk all about rectal microbicides.

• David Ernesto Munar interviews The Pleasure Project.

• The HIV Prevention Justice Alliance (HIV PJA), of which AFC is a founding member, covered the opening of the conference and HIV PJA leader Waheedah Shabazz-El gave the final speech at the closing session.

Among the myriad provisions of the historic health care reform legislation past this spring is a policy change that (beginning in 2011) will allow struggling state AIDS Drug Assistance Programs (ADAPs) transition beneficiaries to Medicare Part D.  This is accomplished by allowing ADAP expenditures count towards Medicare Part D true out-of-pocket costs.

Confused?  You're not alone.

Dose of Change hosted a webinar with policy experts John Coburn of Health and Disability Advocates and Ann Lefert of National Alliance of State and Territorial AIDS Directors to help AIDS advocates prepare for this coming change.

Download presentation slides (PDF).

Download presentation audio and follow along with the slides (MP3).

Stay tuned for more information on how your state can take advantage of this change in the law.  Dose of Change will be developing more resources to help state-level advocates in the months ahead.