Jonny Walker’s Blah, Blah, Blog!

As I sat down to begin this first installment of my Blah, Blah, Blog there were a number of things weighing on me that I felt I was obligated to touch on. According to NASTAD (National Alliance of State and Territorial AIDS Directors) there were at least 7,900 Americans on waiting lists to receive assistance from ADAPs across the nation. A year ago (April 22 2010 to be exact) the number of people on ADAP waiting lists in the United States had reached 929 and we in the world of HIV care and Prevention were up in arms. We were calling our congress people, we were calling the white house, and we were updating our social media accounts. We got busy taking action. The answer we were told was making our elected officials aware of the issue and convince them of the necessity to get our ADAPs more money. Gradually things got worse. We began making trips to Washington DC to meet with the elected officials we had been calling. We made trips to Capitol Hill and Pennsylvania Avenue. We were told that 126 million dollars was all that we needed to stop this thing in its tracks. We had members of the senate and house write amazing bills that went know where. The leadership we had hoped to see from the Obama administration was lacking at best. The Democratic leadership in both the house and senate ignored bills that would have ended the ADAP crisis where it was at simply because they were written by Republicans. All the while person after person was being told they would be placed on a waiting list to get life saving medication. States continued to cap enrollment and dis-enroll people from ADAP. At the same time Gilead, maker of the HIV drug Truvada showed total revenues of $7.95 Billion in 2010 (up 13% from 2009).  Bristol-Meyers Squibb Co., makers of the HIV drug Reyatez showed revenues for 2010 of $21.6 Billion. As the list of people, of mothers and fathers, husbands, wives, sons and daughters, of Americans who wait for their medications rapidly approaches 8 thousand we are told not to worry, that everyone who needs their medication is going to get it. Even as anecdotal stories emerge out of the Deep South, of people dying of Pneumonia who also happen to be HIV positive and on ADAP waiting lists, we are told that no one is going without their medications. We are told that the drug manufacturers are doing “everything they can” to help people living with HIV and AIDS. The CEO of Gilead took home a $50 million dollar bonus last year. That is not his salary for the work he does, but extra money he received for the company being so profitable. I wonder if he could have lived with half that? Is that really doing “everything they can?” It seems the more money Government pumps into ADAP the bigger the bonuses and profits for Big Pharma seem to get. I am not trying to convince you of anything, just hopping you will look at the dollars we are talking about, and hoping that you realize that those 7,900 people are our friends, and neighbors, and family.  I don’t know about you but this makes me angry. In the wealthiest country in the world, couldn’t we spread some of the wealth, at least to keep people alive? Maybe I am missing something. I’d love to hear what you think.        Jonny Walker