Clinton's position on AIDS

 

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From: jfh@netcom.com (Jack Hamilton)

Subject: Clinton's position on AIDS

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Note: Copyright 1992, Dan R. Greening. Non-commercial reproduction allowed.

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[This was posted on sci.med.  I haven't (so far) seen it on sci.med.aids.]

From: U45301@uicvm.uic.edu (Mary Jacobs)

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Subject: CLINTON NEW TEXT: AIDS

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CLINTON TEXT NOW POSTED TO ALT.POLITICS.CLINTON

SEND COMMENTS AND QUESTIONS REGARDING THIS INFORMATION TO THE

CLINTON/GORE CAMPAIGN AT 75300.3115@COMPUSERVE.COM

(This information is posted for public education/information purposes.

It does not necessarily represent the views of The University.)

========================================================================

              CLINTON GORE ON AIDS

Fighting the AIDS epidemic will be a top priority of a Clinton/Gore

Administration. If we fail to commitour hearts and resources now to

fighting AIDS, we will pay a far greater price in the future, both in

deaths and in dollars. We need leaders who will focus national

attention on AIDS, to encourage compassion and understanding, to

promote education and to speak out against intolerance.

We can't afford another four years without a plan to declare war on

AIDS. We can't afford to have yet another President who remains

silent about AIDS or who puts the issue on the back burner.

THE CLINTON/GORE PLAN

Increase funding for desperately needed new initiatives in research,

prevention and treatment.

Appoint an AIDS policy director to coordinate federal AIDS policies,

cut through bureaucratic red tape and implement recommendations

made by the National Commission on AIDS.

Speed up the drug approval process and commit increased resources

to research and development of AIDS-related treatments and

vaccines, and ensure that women and people of color are included in

research and drug trials.

Fully fund the Ryan White CARE Act. Work closely with individuals

and communities that are affected by HIV to create a partnership

between the federal government and those with knowledge and

experience in fighting HIV.

Promote a national AIDS education and prevention initiative that

disseminates frank and accurate information to reduce the spread of

the disease, and educates our children about the nature and threat of

AIDS.

Provide quality health coverage to all Americans with HIV as part of

a broader national health care program; work vigorously to improve

access to promising experimental therapies for people with

life-threatening illnesses; and improve preventive and long-term care.

Combat AIDS-related discrimination and oppose needless mandatory

HIV testing in federal organizations such as the Peace Corps, Job

Corps and the Foreign Service; stop the cynical politicization of

immigration policies by directing the Justice Department to follow

the Department of Health and Human Services' recommendation

that HIV be removed from the immigration restrictions list; promote

legislation based on sound scientific and public health principles, not

on panic, politics and prejudice.

Prevention and education

 Launch a strong and effective AIDS education campaign.

Reevaluate the AIDS prevention budget at the U.S. Centers for

Disease Control to ensure that education is a top priority.

Ensure that increased funding for prevention and services goes

directly to community based organizations that are on the frontline

of the battle against the HIV virus.

Promote AIDS education in American schools.

Provide drug treatment on demand to stop the spread of HIV by

intravenous drug users.

Increase funding for behavior and social science research so that we

can better understand the behaviors that put people at risk for HIV.

Support local efforts to make condoms available in schools.

Treatment and care

Provide health care for all Americans, including those with HIV,

through coverage they obtain either on the job or through

government-mandated programs, which will include:

 - Comprehensive inpatient and outpatient services, including

frequent diagnostic monitoring, early  intervention therapies, and

psychological care.

 - Prescription drugs and improved access to experimental therapies.

Because treatments are not  accessible unless they are affordable, a

Clinton/Gore Administration will support legislation that denies  tax

breaks to companies that raise the cost of drugs faster than

Americans' ability to pay for them.

 - Adequate options for long-term home and community-based care

that minimize unnecessary and  wasteful hospitalizations.

 - Voluntary, confidential, or anonymous testing and counseling for

AIDS and HIV for every American  who wants it.

Encourage the Centers for Disease Control to review periodically

their definition of AIDS to ensure that symptoms and infections that

occur among women, people of color and drug users are included in

the federal definition, and promptly made eligible for all federal

benefit programs for people with AIDS.

Develop programs with the Department of Health and Human

Service to ensure that America's health care professional are kept fully

and regularly informed aobut diagnosing and treating HIV.

Have the National Institutes of Health (NIH) develop a formalized

mechanism to make sure that state-of-the-art informations is broadly

and rapidly disseminated to health professional and people with HIV

disease.

Treatment and drug development

 Work vigorously to develop a vaccine against AIDS and to find

therapies that will destroy HIV, repair the immune system and

prevent and treat AIDS-related infections.

Increase funding for both AIDS-specific and general biomedical

research.

Expand clinical and community based trials for treatments and

vaccines, and raise the level of participation of under-represented

populations.

Reorganize the NIH infrastructure to streamline AIDS research

efforts and improve planning efficiency and communication.

Promote a more rapid review by the NIH of research grant

applications and a speedier distribution of funding for approved

studies.

Facilitate greater access to drugs and work to speed up the drug

approval process.

Ensure that the FDA has the resources to assist in the efficient design

of AIDS-related drug trials and to review their results rapidly. The

FDA will also make possible greater access to promising experimental

therapies without compromising patient safety.

Discrimination

Fight all AIDS-related discrimination and discrimination based on

race, gender and sexual orientation.

Fully implement the Americans with Disabilities Act and resist any

efforts to weaken its provisions.

The Department of Justice and the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights

must make it a high priority to monitor the occurrence of

AIDS-related discrimination and the enforcement of the ADA with

respect to HIV-related complaints.

Forbid health insurance companies form denying coverage to

HIV-positive applicants.

Prhohibit all health plans from adopting discriminatory caps or

exclusions that provide lower coverage for AIDS than for any other

life-threatening illnesses. No American will be denied health coverage

because he or she loses a job or has a pre-existing condition.

Oppose mandatory testing in federal organizations like the Peace

Corps and Foreign Service.

Lift the current ban on travel and immigration to the U.S. by

foreign nationals with HIV.

The Record

As chairman of the National Governors' Association, Governor

Clinton formed the first working group of governors to develop an

AIDS policy. Clinton was a moving force in the creation of an AIDS

action plan adopted by the Governors' Association which called for

education and prevention efforts at the local, state and federal levels.

Governor Clinton supported teacher training for AIDS education and

a detailed study of the availability of HIV education at the local

level.

Since 1990, AIDS education has been required in all Arkansas

schools, and there has been a 40% increase in HIV counseling and

voluntary testing in Arkansas.

The Arkansas AIDS Advisory Committee was established in 1987.

This committee makes recommendations on HIV policy and

program services. HIV services in the state currently include

anonymous testing at two centers and confidential testing and

counseling at public health clinics in all 75 Arkansas counties.

Senator Al Gore voted to ban discrimination against people with

AIDS or HIV.

Voted for legislation to remove HIV from the immigration

restrictions list.

Supported funding for the Ryan White AIDS Act.

Voted to provide emergency relief to metropolitan areas hardest hit

by AIDS, to health care facilities serving many low-income

individuals and families with HIV and to states to assist in improving

the quality of treatment and support services for people with HIV.

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Jack Hamilton   jfh@netcom.com   P. O. Box 281107   SF, CA   94128-1107