******************************************************************************
This is an update from GLAAD's LGBT Latino Activist list.
Este es un avance noticioso de la lista LGBT Latina de GLAAD.
DO NOT REPRODUCE WITHOUT CITING THIS SOURCE.
******************************************************************************
© 2005 MSNBC.com
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/9315829/
8,000 HIV/AIDS patients displaced by storm
Many infected evacuees going without medication, specialized treatment
The Associated Press
Updated: 4:24 p.m. ET Sept. 12, 2005
About 8,000 people with HIV and AIDS who were displaced by Hurricane
Katrina now face the massive challenge of trying to manage their
disease without their doctors, their clinics and their support systems.
"I'm very frustrated right now," said Noel Twilbeck, executive director
of the NO/AIDS Task Force, the oldest HIV/AIDS service organization in
the Gulf South. "We absolutely have to get people their medication.
This is a frightening situation."
When Michael-Chase Creasy, 49, fled New Orleans, he brought his HIV
medicines - but not a lifetime supply. And when he saw television
footage from the safety of a Houston hotel room of flood waters rising
above his own 1820s Canal Street home, he knew he would not be
returning soon and he was in serious trouble.
He needed to ensure that his prescriptions would not be interrupted:
"These medicines are what keep me healthy and ultimately alive. If I go
too long without it, I can really atrophy or descend rapidly."
In need of medicine
HIV-infected people typically take a "cocktail" of medications that can
include upward of 20 pills a day. When patients go off their
medication, the virus can multiply and they develop resistance to the
drugs. Studies have repeatedly shown patients have a better chance of
keeping their HIV under control by not missing doses.
The NO/AIDS Task Force has found a temporary home at the Montrose
Clinic in Houston, a medical center that specializes in the needs of
the lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender community. Montrose's
executive director Katy Caldwell said evacuees have been arriving by
the dozens.
Creasy was one who found help there. Doctors swiped the saliva on his
gum to confirm he is HIV positive and then loaded him up with
prescriptions and free samples. His problem is solved, for now. But his
health insurance is set to run out Sept. 15 when the trade exchange
where he worked as a media broker goes out of business.
Caldwell said lack of funds will not affect anyone's access to care.
"We treat them first, worry about the money later," she said.
"Thank God for Katy," said Twilbeck, sitting by her side and recalling
his own dash out of New Orleans as the hurricane approached with 25
family members, eight dogs and a lizard.
Desperate for care
The AIDS Alliance for Children, Youth and Families estimates at least
8,000 HIV-infected people are now trying to get care. The organization
is working to get money and supplies to providers, who are struggling
to find their patients.
Federal officials say they're doing their best to streamline care to
HIV-infected patients, and several drug companies are offering free
medication. Meanwhile, providers in Florida, Tennessee, Alabama,
Mississippi, Georgia and beyond report that displaced patients are
showing up at their clinics and asking for new prescriptions, quickly.
On a billboard in the Houston Astrodome, posters - as well as onsite
medical providers - are advising HIV-infected people to go to the
Thomas Street Health Center for a quick AIDS test, a physical
examination and a month's supply of their medication.
The U.S. Health Resources and Services Agency, the federal agency that
provides health care for people infected with HIV, completely lost its
service centers in Biloxi and New Orleans. The centers in Hattiesburg
and Mobile are flooded and lack power.
Social stigmas may also limit some access to care.
"People are not going to walk up to the American Red Cross and say,
'Hi, I have HIV.' More likely they're going to try to find an HIV
provider," said Diana Bruce, a spokeswoman for the Washington DC-based
AIDS Alliance for Children, Youth & Families.
Those evacuees who do seek medical assistance from providers at
emergency centers may end up with doctors who have no experience caring
for people with HIV.
Complex medical histories
Dr. Nicholaos Bellos, president of the Dallas-based Southwester
Infectious Disease Associates, helped launch an online triage program
for Hurricane Katrina survivors. The program advises doctors working in
emergency clinics how to care and medicate patients with HIV. Their Web
site also provides patients with information about where to find
specialized care. including maps.
Bellos said people with HIV and AIDS have complex medical histories
which are often well documented at their clinics. It's hard to treat
them without this detailed background, he said.
"Not many of these people had a chance to go by and pick up their
medical records on the way out of town," he said. "One of our biggest
problems, right off the bat, is just documenting their HIV-positive
status."
Viral load tests, to see how much HIV is in someone's bloodstream, as
well as T-cell tests, to determine the strength of their immune system,
are important factors when deciding what to prescribe.
Kaye Ray, who runs a 10-clinic family HIV program out of Hattiesburg,
Miss., said that it took eight days before even their first clinic
could reopen. Staff members drove door to door checking on patients
until they ran out of gas. Late last week, she received some
much-needed funds from the AIDS Alliance Emergency Fund to buy diapers
and transportation for HIV-infected families, many of whom have lost
their homes.
Many advocates said this week that with an impending public health
disaster looming in the Gulf region, they feared that people living
with HIV and AIDS might slip through the cracks.
"There are many immediate, midterm and long-term issues that will
literally be life and death for people living with HIV/AIDS," said
Terje Anderson, executive director of the National Association of
People with AIDS in an urgent letter seeking help from Health Secretary
Michael Leavitt.
© 2005 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not
be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.