In a series of condemnations and action alerts to raise public awareness of bad legislation, Kentucky Equality Federation, now joined by the Kentucky HIV/AIDS Advocacy Action Group condemned House Bill 350 this week.

House Bill 350 would end the requirement that physicians, nurses, surgeons, etc. receive HIV/AIDS training and education as a condition to maintaining a license to practice in Kentucky.

Kentucky Equality Federation is the only statewide LGBTI advocacy organization to issue action alerts and condemnations of legislation impacting those living with HIV/AIDS.  This is usually a routine practice for statewide organizations such as Equality California, Equality Massachusetts, Georgia Equality and Equality Florida among others.

With Kentucky’s economy in ruins, additional human services are expected to be cut by lawmakers before the end of the 2010 legislative session.  Kentucky allowed its AIDS Drug Assistance Program to expire in 2007 according to the Herald-Leader leaving thousands of Kentuckians that are HIV positive without a means to pay for the expensive treatment medications.

Today, advances in medication can place an HIV patient in an “undetectable” state, meaning the patient’s viral load is so low, it is virtually undetectable.  However, these life saving medications can cost thousands of dollars.

In a harsh statement, Kentucky Equality Federation and the Kentucky HIV/AIDS Advocacy Action Group condemned House Bill 350 as “ethically irresponsible and a crime against anyone living with HIV/AIDS.” (source)

* Should House Bill 350 pass, the unasked question is what’s next?  An end to continuous training and education requirements to identity cancer, infectious mononucleosis, athlete’s foot, tumors, or even H1N1?

The press release is below:

Lexington, KY – Two statewide advocacy groups, Kentucky Equality Federation and the Kentucky HIV/AIDS Advocacy Action Group today condemned House Bill 350 as ethically irresponsible and a crime against anyone living with HIV/AIDS.

House Bill 350 seeks to remove HIV/AIDS training and education requirements for licensed service providers such as physicians, registered nurses, social workers, etc. Both organizations are opposed to the legislation because treatment options change rapidly, making it imperative that all health care professionals know the physical manifestations of HIV/AIDS. It is a matter of getting people in the proper care as soon as possible. This could be the difference in a healthy outcome or multiple misdiagnoses that would end up costing more financially either for the patient themselves or for the taxpayers of Kentucky.

“Treatment options change rapidly, therefore physicians or other clinicians that do not treat HIV/AIDS as a specialty would be hard pressed to know the best treatment options for their patients infected with this disease,” stated Bobby Edelen, president of the Kentucky HIV/AIDS Advocacy Action Group.

To compound the issue, Kentucky lawmakers allowed the Kentucky AIDS Drug Assistance Program to expire. “The fact that the Commonwealth also stopped funding the low-income Kentucky AIDS Drug Assistance Program in 2007 is inhumane, shortsighted, and threatens individual and public health,” stated Kentucky Equality Federation President Jordan Palmer.

Gary L. Fowler, a special adviser to the Kentucky HIV/AIDS Advocacy Action Group, and Co-Chair of the Kentucky HIV Prevention Advisory Council (KHPAC) stated: “I would like to point out that surveillance training is necessary for us to have the best information available to stop the spread of HIV/AIDS. Kentucky has a high number of people infected with the disease that report unknown risk factors. If we do not have accurate numbers for who is being infected and what their behavioral risk factors are, we do not have a clear picture of where we need to target our prevention dollars.”

Edelen continued: “House Bill 350 does a disservice to the citizens of the Commonwealth of Kentucky by lowering healthcare standards for service providers and should be defeated. The citizens of this great Commonwealth deserve the best representation from their lawmakers to ensure the quality of healthcare is held to a higher standard than ‘minimum’ and enforced with every protection under the law.”

* Notice: This article contains a question and/or opinion of the contributor or journalist.