Hillary Clinton stayed true to her word and met with HIV/AIDS activists and experts to outline what she hopes to accomplish if elected in November. Bernie Sanders had cancelled his proposed meeting with the groups and as yet has not rescheduled.  It goes without saying that either Sanders or Clinton would be vastly better than Donald Trump or any Republican on these issues.  Indeed, as a I suggest in my upcoming VEER Magazine column, the failed policies now in place, especially in states where Republicans control the state legislatures is disproportionately harming the black community - something that is akin to a slow form of genocide and which is likely perfectly acceptable to the GOP and its Christofascist puppet masters.  If you can disenfranchise all blacks, let them die off. Yes, it's a harsh assessment, but I am afraid it is all too close to the truth.  The Clinton campaign released a press release that outlines her agenda on the HIV/AIDS front.  Here are excerpts:

Today, Hillary Clinton met with HIV and AIDS experts and advocates representing a diverse coalition of more than 70 leaders and organizations in the community. The meeting took place at the Hillary for America headquarters in Brooklyn, NY, where they discussed Clinton’s continued commitment to tackling the epidemic in the U.S. and globally, fighting discrimination against PLHIV and AIDS, and working together with HIV and AIDS experts and advocates to achieve an AIDS-free generation.

Hillary Clinton has been a longtime advocate in the fight to treat and prevent HIV and AIDS.

As First Lady, Clinton traveled the world to raise awareness on combating HIV and AIDS and assembled government officials and world leaders to increase funding for prevention and research efforts.

As Senator, Clinton introduced legislation to improve and expand global HIV and AIDS research, assistance, and education. She also co-sponsored the Early Treatment for HIV Act to extend Medicaid coverage to low-income people living with HIV.

As Secretary of State, Clinton began an ambitious campaign to usher in an AIDS-free generation. She oversaw a more than 200 percent increase in the number of people on antiretroviral treatment directly supported by the United States to reach over 6.7 million men, women, and children around the world.

Clinton has also emphasized HIV and AIDS in her philanthropic work. Almost 10 million people with HIV or AIDS around the world have benefited from more affordable medicine because of the Clinton Foundation. And since 2002, the Clinton Health Access Initiative has reduced the cost of HIV and AIDS medications in many countries from over $10,000 per person per year to just $100 to $200 per person per year.

During this campaign, Clinton has released specific policies to tackle the HIV and AIDS epidemic. As President, she will:

Cap out-of-pocket pharmaceutical expenses for people with HIV and AIDS. Clinton has announced a plan to hold the pharmaceutical industry accountable and to achieve lower drug costs for Americans, including for medications that help treat HIV and reduce the risk of contracting AIDS. Clinton will ensure that Americans can get the care their doctors prescribe by requiring health insurance plans to cap covered out-of-pocket prescription drug costs at $250 per month. She also will allow Medicare to negotiate lower drug prices and will stop direct-to-consumer advertising subsidies for drug companies—reinvesting those funds in research.

Expand the utilization of HIV prevention medications, including pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP). While we work to diagnose and treat all Americans with HIV and AIDS, we also must work to prevent exposure. Decades of research are beginning to offer a promising path to prevention. Clinton will increase the CDC investment to ensure populations at greatest risk of infection have access to PrEP, and encourage states to follow suit.

Protect those with HIV and AIDS from discrimination. Clinton will work with Congress to review and reform outdated and stigmatizing HIV criminalization laws—and call on states to do the same. And she is committed to continuing to aggressively enforce the Americans with Disabilities Act and other civil rights laws to fight HIV-related discrimination.

Continue to increase HIV and AIDS research and invest in the promising innovations that research is producing. Researchers at the NIH and elsewhere are poised to make even more progress towards curing HIV, developing long-acting treatments that do not require daily pill taking, and better understanding the social and structural factors that can impact a person’s ability to access HIV prevention and care services. As President, Clinton will increase funding to ensure this progress to continue.

Bernie Sanders Cancels Meeting with HIV Activists

With both Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sanders courting all aspects of the LGBT vote, especially in advance of the New York State primary last month, both Clinton and Sanders agreed to meet with HIV activists this month in Indianapolis.  Now, Sanders has cancelled and failed to reschedule or communicate with activist groups he had agreed to meet with.  The Washington Blade looks at the strange cancellation and cessation of communications.  Here are highlights:

Bernie Sanders has cancelled a meeting with HIV advocates his campaign affirmed days before the crucial New York Democratic primary he would attend, according to the activists who sought to arrange the meeting. The 30-minute meeting between Sanders and HIV advocates was set for May 13 in Indianapolis.

Democratic front-runner Hillary Clinton also agreed to meet the activists, who say they’re are still on track to meet with her Thursday for one hour in New York City.

Hilary McQuie, director of U.S. policy and grassroots mobilization for the HIV/AIDS group Health GAP, told the Blade the Sanders campaign cancelled the meeting without explanation. “He did cancel — no reason given and they have not rescheduled,” McQuie said. “We feel a bit burned by the bern, and hope they will answer our emails now.”

Peter Staley, a New York-based gay rights and HIV advocate, told the Blade HIV advocates before the unexpected cancellation were in daily contact with the Sanders campaign. “They sent a ‘need to reschedule’ email last Sunday (for our Tuesday meeting), and then bizarrely stopped communications completely after that,” Staley said.

“We’ve been emailing and calling every day since then, including warning them days ago about our intent to go public.” According to a statement announcing the cancellation from the Brooklyn-based HIV and homeless advocacy group Housing Works, attendees were informed on April 30 the Sanders meeting was cancelled, which was two days after many of them purchased expensive, last-minute plane ticket to attend the event.

Although the Sanders campaign promised to “reschedule” as soon as possible, it has yet to propose a new date, time or city, the statement says. The Sanders campaign didn’t respond to a request for comment late Sunday to confirm the meeting with HIV advocates was cancelled or to explain why the event would be nixed.

Charles King, CEO of Housing Works, said in the statement he’s among Sanders’ supporters, but the candidate’s decision to cancel the meeting is “incredibly disappointing.” “I have been a supporter of Bernie Sanders, and was proud to vote for him in the New York primary,” King said.

“It is disheartening to see the ‘revolutionary’ candidate who claims to value grassroots organizing and visionary politics not make time in his schedule to meet with us. He is supposed to be the guy who walks the walk, but all we’ve heard the past six weeks is talk—and fairly tepid, reactive talk at that.”

Ramon Gardenhire, vice president of policy and advocacy for the AIDS Foundation of Chicago, said Sanders should remain true to his word to meet HIV advocates.