HIV

Exploitation of Federal Drug Program Is Hurting Southern California Patients

For people living with chronic illnesses—like HIV, hypertension, or arthritis—consistent access to medication is essential. But for many working-class families, affording prescriptions can feel like choosing between staying healthy and putting food on the table. A federal safety-net program known as 340B was created to ease that burden. It allows qualifying clinics and hospitals to purchase prescription medications at discounted prices and use the savings to improve care or reduce drug costs for patients. In its original form, 340B was a lifeline for low-income and medically underserved communities. But the program has gone off course. Over time, 340B has been hijacked—not by

I Saw God, Faith, and Medicine in Action

Last week, I had an opportunity to see the power of God firsthand—had my faith tradition reinforced and saw the strength in medicine, all working together for the good! 

Colleagues Credit Jordan’s Trailblazing Work to Aid HIV Patients

The recent death of Dr. Wilbert C. Jordan prompted colleagues and mentees to recall his pioneering efforts to treat people afflicted with the disease.  Jordan, who passed away in April, began battling the epidemic in 1979 – two years before the CDC publicly identified the virus.  He later established the Oasis Clinic in South L.A. to provide testing and medical services to people living with the infection.

World AIDS Day 2022: Get on the Healthy Love Bus

December 1, World Aids Day, was also a day of celebration because a new super weapon was unveiled. “The Love Bus is a preventive mobile health unit. It is meant to meet people where they are, but also where they want to be,” shared Dazon Dixon Diallo, who recognized a growing need in the African American community for health care services in 1989.

Healing Our Heart, Mind and Body

Recently I received a call and was asked if I knew someone who wanted to join the team of some of the best and brightest people working on a research project in the area of HIV/AIDS. The project was entitled, “Healing Our Heart, Mind and Body”. It’s not too often to be presented with an opportunity to work with both friends and people you admire. So, when Dr. Gail Wyatt asked if I knew of a person, in particular a man, that wanted to work on this project with her and her team, I said “I’ve got just the right guy for you—ME!”

Ending HIV Only Happens if Black America Leads

In 2011, Science Magazine’s “Breakthrough of the Year” was the discovery that antiretroviral drugs were a game changer in HIV prevention. The development of treatment as Prevention and Pre-Exposure Prophylaxis (PrEP) ushered in the concept of ending the HIV/AIDS epidemic. By combining effective treatment for people living with HIV with simple and easy biomedical prevention for people at risk of HIV infection we can eliminate HIV transmission and HIV acquisition, thereby breaking the back of the epidemic.

“HIV/AIDS – Forty Years and Counting”

Forty years into the HIV/AIDS epidemic in the United States, African Americans continue to be disproportionately affected by HIV/AIDS.

A Pioneering Voice In African Literature Dies After Short Illness

Wainaina won the 2002 Caine prize for African writing. Credited with founding the literary magazine and collective Kwani? and advancing the fight for LGBTQ rights in Africa, he made headlines around the world in 2014, when he responded to a wave of anti-gay laws around the continent by publicly outing himself in a short essay, published to mark his 43rd birthday.