BEFORE THE BOARD OF MULTNOMAH COUNTY COMMISSIONERS
FOR MULTNOMAH COUNTY, OREGON
PROCLAMATION NO. _________
Proclaiming June 5,
2014 as National HIV/AIDS Long-Term Survivors Awareness Day in Multnomah County
The Multnomah County
Board of Commissioners finds:
a.
Thirty
three years ago, on June 5, 1981, the Federal Centers for Disease Control published
a brief account of five young gay men, diagnosed with a rare form of pneumonia indicating
severely compromised immune systems. This exploded into an immensely significant
epidemic, and came to be known as HIV/AIDS.
b.
The long
delayed and ineffective early institutional response in the early 1980s has
been characterized by historians as an example of monumental injustice; and the
grassroots response to that injustice has been described as a groundbreaking model
for all community organizing to come.
c. People
in the communities most affected were called upon to be caretakers,
undertakers, lobbyists, and activists, in a climate of not knowing what was
happening, nor when--if ever--help would arrive. Many tended to the dying and
buried the dead while they themselves were waiting to die.
d. In
some parts of the country public health authorities, including Multnomah County
Health Department and the Oregon Health Division, utilized community organizing
techniques to develop culturally competent responses to the epidemic, even while
facing resistance and push back from people who were scared or judgmental. In
other places there was nothing, or worse.
e. Now some 30
years later, with new treatments, HIV/AIDS is increasingly seen, for those
newly infected, as a manageable chronic disease; but those who have survived
the darkest decades face new major life challenges: physically, emotionally and
spiritually. Oregon Health Authority surveillance data show that 77% of
Oregonians living with HIV/AIDS are over age 40, and 47% of Oregonians living
with HIV/AIDS are over the age of 50 - many of which are long-term survivors.
f.
Depression, post traumatic stress syndrome (PTSD),
suicidal thoughts and tendencies, anxiety, lack of future orientation, and not
being able to imagine growing older are some of the symptoms increasingly seen
in long-term HIV/AIDS survivors, positive and negative, mostly men but some
women. This has come to be known as AIDS
Survivor Syndrome.
g. Stigma
also continues to cause additional stressors. A recent study of HIV stigma in
older adults with HIV found that 96% reported experiencing HIV stigma itself, and
56% reported experiencing rejection from service providers, family, friends,
church members and sexual partners. Inequities can still exist in institutional
polices and systems. Although current medications are most often effective, not
everybody has access to them or can afford them, even if they have health
insurance.
h. The
Los Angeles Times reported that long-term HIV/AIDS Survivors are 13 times more
likely to experience depression, and are more likely to commit suicide than
people of the same age in the general population.
i.
A national grassroots movement, named Let’s Kick A.S.S. - AIDS Survivor Syndrome
is emerging to (1) acknowledge the
profound experiences and unique issues of long-term survivors, both
HIV-positive and negative; (2) to challenge our community’s institutions
to acknowledge and address the symptoms of AIDS Survivor Syndrome; (3) to
demand an end to disparities and discrimination; and (4) to tap into the strength,
resilience and experiences of people who have learned how to survive against all
odds.
j.
A Portland Metro/Multnomah County area chapter
of this national movement is forming, named Let’s Kick A.S.S. - PDX
k. Acknowledging
the profound impact of the experiences and unique issues of long-term
survivors, both HIV-positive and negative, men and women, is an important step
in fostering a culturally competent and healthy community and reducing health
disparities for diverse people of all ages.
The Multnomah County
Board of Commissioners Proclaim:
June 5, 2014 as National HIV
/AIDS Long-Term Survivors Awareness Day in Multnomah County; call on County
Departments and community institutions to work together to reduce health
disparities, expand cultural competency, and tap into the strength, resilience
and experiences of long-term HIV/AIDS survivors; and commit to supporting Let’s
Kick A.S.S. - PDX
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