Governor Quinn Saves Illinois AIDS Drug Assistance Program
FDA Approves First Hepatitis C Rapid Test
Atripla Co-pay Program Now Saves More Money
Scientists and Other Leaders Call for Reform of International Drug Policy
Cook County Jail Launches HIV/STD Testing Initiative
St. Louis VA Medical Center May Have Exposed Vets to Hepatitis C and HIV
Governor Quinn Saves Illinois AIDS Drug Assistance Program
On July 1, Illinois governor Pat Quinn announced that the Illinois AIDS Drug Assistance Program (ADAP) will be sufficiently funded to “serve approximately 4,500 clients a month—an increase of 400” recipients, avoiding the waiting list that had been recommended in May by the Medical Issues Advisory Board. The Board is comprised of doctors, pharmacists, legal experts, advocates, and people with HIV, and advises the Illinois Department of Public Health on ADAP policy. They had recommended that Illinois institute a waiting list for ADAP because program costs are far exceeding available funding.
In the last nine months, the ADAP program, which supplies medications to low-income, HIV-positive Illinois residents who can’t afford the expensive drugs, provided HIV/AIDS medications to an average of 4,165 Illinoisans per month.
“We thank Governor Quinn for underscoring the importance of sustaining access to lifesaving HIV medications,” said Mark Ishaug, President/CEO of the AIDS Foundation of Chicago.
Though the announcement was good news for ADAP, it was also reported that $17 million was cut from the Illinois Department of Public Health, which supports critical HIV/AIDS and public health services, though no HIV programs were specifically listed for funding cuts.
“We eagerly await detailed budget information for all HIV programs and services and hope the Administration adequately funds a full spectrum of activities from prevention to housing and ADAP,” said Ishaug.
FDA Approves First Hepatitis C Rapid Test
On June 25, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) announced the approval of “the first rapid blood test in the U.S. for antibodies to the hepatitis C virus (HCV) in whole blood specimens (from venipuncture), for individuals 15 years and older. The OraQuick HCV Rapid Antibody Test, a test strip for the detection of antibodies to the hepatitis C virus, is indicated for testing individuals who are at risk for infection with HCV, and people with signs or symptoms of hepatitis. No additional instrumentation is required for diagnosis, and results are available in about 20 minutes. Results are presumptive, meaning that a positive test result should be followed up by a confirmatory test using traditional HCV testing methods to make a definitive diagnosis.”
HCV is transmitted primarily through exposure to infected blood, and intravenous drug use is the most common means of transmission in the United States. Hepatitis C can lead to liver inflammation and dysfunction and, over time, to liver disease and liver cancer.
Atripla Co-pay Program Now Saves More Money
The co-pay program for Atripla now eliminates the requirement that people first pay $50 out-of-pocket before financial assistance begins. The same is true for the drugs that make up Atripla: Sustiva and Truvada, as well as the medications that make up Truvada (Emtriva and Viread).
According to a spokesperson from Gilead Sciences, “Going forward, the Atripla Co-Pay Assistance Program will pay up to $200 per month (or $2,400 per year) toward out-of-pocket expenses for Atripla beginning with the first dollar of co-payment required by a patient’s insurance plan. Bristol-Myers Squibb & Gilead Sciences, LLC [the makers of Atripla], are working as quickly as possible to implement this change, and we anticipate the revision to the program will take effect on July 1, 2010.”
The program is not available to patients in Massachusetts or to those whose prescriptions are eligible to be reimbursed, in whole or in part, by Medicare, Medicaid, any other federal- or state-funded health care benefit program, or by private plans or other health or pharmacy benefit programs which reimburse patients for the entire cost of their prescription drugs.
To enroll, people taking Atripla must get a co-pay assistance card from their health care provider, or call the toll-free number 1-866-784-3431. The card must be activated before first use by calling this number.
People who do not have insurance, are underinsured, or who otherwise need assistance may call the Atripla Patient Assistance Program (PAP) toll-free at 1-866-290-476
Scientists and Other Leaders Call for Reform of International Drug Policy
On June 28, three leading scientific and health policy organizations launched a global drive for signatories to the Vienna Declaration, a statement seeking to improve community health and safety by calling for the incorporation of scientific evidence into policies concerning illicit drugs.
The Vienna Declaration is the official declaration of the XVIII International AIDS Conference (AIDS 2010), the biennial meeting of more than 20,000 HIV professionals, taking place in Vienna, Austria from July 18 to 23 (www.aids2010.org).
“Many of us in AIDS research and care confront the devastating impacts of misguided drug policies every day,” said AIDS 2010 Chair Dr. Julio Montaner, President of the International AIDS Society (IAS) and Director of the British Columbia Centre for Excellence in HIV/AIDS. “These policies fuel the AIDS epidemic and result in violence, increased crime rates, and destabilization of entire states—yet there is no evidence they have reduced rates of drug use or drug supply. As scientists, we are committed to raising our collective voice to promote evidence-based approaches to illicit drug policy that start by recognizing that addiction is a medical condition, not a crime.”
The Vienna Declaration calls on governments and international organizations, including the United Nations, to take a number of steps, including:
- undertake a transparent review of the effectiveness of current drug policies;
- implement and evaluate a science-based public health approach to address the harms stemming from illicit drug use;
- scale up evidence-based drug dependence treatment options;
- abolish ineffective compulsory drug treatment centers that violate the Universal Declaration of Human Rights; and
- unequivocally endorse and scale up funding for the drug treatment and harm reduction measures endorsed by the World Health Organization (WHO) and the United Nations, such as opioid substitution therapy (OST) and needle and syringe exchange programs.
The declaration also calls for the meaningful involvement of people who use drugs in developing, monitoring, and implementing services and policies that affect their lives.
The Vienna Declaration was drafted by an international team of scientists and other experts, many of whom will participate in AIDS 2010 later this month. Those wishing to sign on may visit www.viennadeclaration.com, where the full text of the declaration, along with a list of authors, is available.
Cook County Jail Launches HIV/STD Testing Initiative
On June 24, Bridget Gainer, Cook County Board Commissioner, the Cook County Sheriff’s Office, and the AIDS Foundation of Chicago gathered to officially launch the HIV/STD testing initiative at the Cook County Jail. Now, all detainees who come through the jail will be offered testing for sexually transmitted diseases, including HIV. Nearly 100,000 people each year are processed through intake at the jail and Commissioner Gainer said, “Screening male and female detainees at the jail is a powerful public health intervention, allowing Cook County to help control the spread of HIV and other sexually transmitted diseases,” said Gainer.
Dr. Avery Hart, Chief Medical Officer at Cermak Health Service, commented on the new (though temporary) facility that provides more privacy for detainees to speak honestly with their doctors, something which was sorely lacking in the past and may have discouraged disclosure.
“The new medical intake area will also enable Cermak Health Services to comply with national recommendations from the Centers for Disease Control for opt-out testing of individuals at high risk for HIV infection. There is very strong public health evidence that the majority of HIV transmission occurs among people who do not know they have the virus,” Hart said.
Dr. Chad Zawitz, Attending Physician and Clinical Coordinator of HIV/Infectious Disease Services at the jail agreed. “Personally, I am absolutely thrilled to see Commissioner Gainer and others provide us support to implement this testing initiative. It is a huge advance on the public health front-lines.” He continued, “With widespread testing, we hope to de-stigmatize and normalize the tests, diagnose and treat large numbers of STDs, and most importantly, find the undiagnosed HIV patients and link them to long-term care and services.”
For individuals who test positive for HIV or STDs, counseling services and continued medical care will be provided through Cermak Health Services while they remain in jail. Upon release, individuals with HIV will be referred to the County’s Ruth M. Rothstein CORE Center’s renowned HIV clinic or a community service provider.
St. Louis VA Medical Center May Have Exposed Vets to Hepatitis C and HIV
The Associated Press reported on July 1 that the John Cochran VA facility in St. Louis, Missouri has urged nearly 2,000 veterans to return for blood tests because inadequately sterilized equipment may have exposed them to viral infections such as hepatitis C and HIV during dental procedures.
The Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) sent out letters to 1,812 people who had dental procedures at the center from February 1, 2009 through March 11 of this year. According to the report, the VA said quality reviews determined that some sterilization steps involved in preparing dental instruments were not in compliance with standards, creating a low risk of infection.
“Though we believe the health risk is extremely low, it was not possible to rule out the possibility that one or more patients were exposed to an infection,” a statement from the VA read. The agency said patients who have had dental procedures since March 11 are not at risk because procedures were corrected.