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Stories tagged with “Elton John”

NEWS FLASH

Elton John Tells AIDS Conference: ‘I Should Be Dead’ | Today, Elton John spoke at the International AIDS Conference and offered that he “should be dead.” He explained, “I should have contracted HIV in the 1980s and died in the 1990s, just like Freddie Mercury, just like Rock Hudson. Every day I wonder, how did I survive?” He went on to say that everyone deserves compassion, dignity, and love regardless of who they love; “the AIDS disease is caused by a virus… but the AIDS epidemic is fueled by stigma, by hate, by misinformation, by ignorance, by indifference.” Watch his simple but powerful words:

LGBT

Elton John: It’s Criminal To Cut Funding For HIV/AIDS Treatment

By Zack Ford on Jul 17, 2012 at 2:46 pm

Last year, Elton John urged Florida Gov. Rick Scott (R) to protect a government program (ADAP) that provided medication to low-income HIV/AIDS patients. Then-Surgeon General Frank Farmer responded with the counter-intuitive reasoning that cutbacks were necessary because the demand for the drugs exceeded the resources available. Instead, he suggested that John come to Florida to perform a fundraising concert for ADAP.

Today on NPR, John explained how unhelpful that response was for the kind of work the Elton John AIDS Foundation does:

JOHN: [EJAF is] an AIDS organization, and whenever anybody’s funding is cut — and it’s usually cut, especially in this case in Florida, [for] the people that can afford it least … then we’re going to write a letter about it. And we wrote a letter to [Florida Gov. Rick Scott] himself. … It’s not my job to [fund a state's AIDS program]. It’s the government’s priority to do that. I can’t do benefit concerts for Florida, for the people with AIDS in Florida. It’s their responsibility; they need to do what’s right. And cutting funding for the people that [can] least afford it is criminal.

We can solve this AIDS problem forever if the government gives the funding. If people are encouraged to come out and say they’re HIV-positive and they’re given their treatments, then obviously the people who are marginalized — like intravenous drug users, prisoners, people who are made to feel less-than — if they’re given the support of the government and they’re given the funding, then it’s going to help solve the spread of AIDS and HIV in America. We have to try and get rid of this shortsightedness when it comes to HIV and the stigma around it.

Indeed, HIV medication funding continues to be malnourished. Many states cut back last year, and Republican efforts to cut Medicaid present one of the largest threats to what funding is still available.

NEWS FLASH

‘The View’ Denounces Pope Benedict’s Condemnation Of Same-Sex Marriage | Yesterday, the ladies of The View dedicated some time to Pope Benedict’s comments this week condemning same-sex marriage as a threat to the “future of humanity itself.” Joy Behar joked that “somebody wasn’t invited to Elton John’s wedding,” and Barbara Walters pointed out that at the core of the argument is a struggle to define “family.” If the pope believes that only married heterosexual couples should procreate, then anyone raising children outside such an arrangement would also be a “threat.” Watch it:

Jimmy Kimmel also chimed in on the Pope’s comments, offering an explanation for just how same-sex marriage could destroy humanity:

(HT: Towleroad and Good As You.)

Health

Elton John And Sen. Bill Nelson Urge Congress To Maintain Funding For HIV/AIDS Medication

By Igor Volsky on Oct 13, 2011 at 4:05 pm

Elton John and Sen. Bill Nelson (D-FL) have an op-ed in Politico this morning urging Congress to increase funding for programs that provide access to HIV/AIDS drugs. “All 50 states now have assistance programs for people with low income, living with the disease. But, in an increasing number, the need for these medications is greater than federal and state funding,” the two warn, arguing that “these cuts will only lead to higher costs to taxpayers in the long run“:

First, patients who lose their assistance and are forced off HIV medications could develop drug-resistant strains of HIV — which may well be more difficult to manage.

Second, denying treatment to low-income, HIV-positive people will most likely result in increased transmission of the disease. A recent, groundbreaking study by the National Institutes of Health demonstrated that people living with HIV who receive effective drug treatment are 96 percent less likely to pass the virus on to their uninfected partners.

Third, while HIV/AIDS medications are expensive, the emergency room and hospital care required by people who do not receive them is far more costly.

While Congress debates funding levels for the next fiscal year — President Obama asked Congress to increase funding for AIDS medications to $940 million in the next fiscal year, but a Senate appropriations subcommittee has only approved $900 million — HHS has recently released $1.89 billion in grants through the Ryan White HIV/AIDS Program. Approximately $1.213 billion will be sent to states and territories under Part B of the Ryan White Program, with $813 million of that total designated specifically for the AIDS Drug Assistance Program (ADAP). ADAP is a national initiative funded by the federal and state governments and run by the states that provides prescription drug coverage for low-income people with HIV/AIDS. As of October, 7,409 individuals in 10 states were waiting to sign up for the program.

Meanwhile, health advocates continue to fight against cuts to health care programs that HIV/AIDS patients rely on. Earlier this week, House members from California met with CMS Administrator Donald Berwick and urged him to deny the state’s request to cut $1.4 billion from Medicaid, the single largest source of coverage for people with HIV.

NEWS FLASH

Elton John Defends HIV/AIDS Funding In Florida | Elton John, who founded the Elton John AIDS Foundation, is urging Florida Gov. Rick Scott (R) to protect a program that provides medication to low-income HIV/AIDS patients. A proposed change would lower the income eligibility for the program and potentially make it unavailable for as many as 1,600 people. Several other states are considering or have already made cuts to their support in fighting HIV/AIDS.

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