Category: Official Statements

NMAC applauds today’s passage of the Equality Act by the U.S. House of Representatives. Protection from discrimination for LGBTQ Americans is a vital component in the success of the federal government’s plan to end the HIV epidemic by 2030.

“We cannot successfully fight HIV/AIDS without ending discrimination against the LGBTQ community,” said Paul Kawata, Executive Director for NMAC. “Overt or perceived discrimination is a major reason why many LGBTQ Americans do not seek out needed health care, including HIV testing, care, or prevention education. It also deeply affects such basic things as keeping HIV medications in their homes or accessing health care benefits through their employer. By ensuring their protection under the law in every state and territory, the Equality Act will have a tremendous impact on our efforts to end HIV by 2030.”

NMAC leads with race to urgently fight for health equity and racial justice to end the HIV epidemic in America. Since 1987, NMAC has advanced our mission through a variety of programs and services, including: a public policy education program, national and regional training conferences, a treatment and research program, numerous electronic and print materials, and a website: www.nmac.org. NMAC also serves as an association of AIDS service organizations, providing valuable information to community-based organizations, hospitals, clinics, and other groups assisting individuals and families affected by the HIV epidemic.

As a national leader in combating health disparities for minorities, NMAC strongly endorses the REPEAL Act, and applauds Congresswoman Barbara Lee’s determination to eliminate discrimination against people living with HIV/AIDS.

“The REPEAL Act will advance efforts to finally modernize laws surrounding those living with HIV/AIDS and, if enacted, will afford those Americans the right to privacy,” said Paul Kawata, Executive Director for NMAC. “We know that disclosure laws are rooted in an old model aimed towards punishing HIV-positive Americans. Those same laws create tremendous barriers for Americans living with HIV, including those serving in our Armed Forces. More importantly, these laws deter self-reliance health practices, which we know is the most effective way of stopping the spread of HIV,” Kawata said.

“This legislation is critically important and long overdue,” added Joe Huang-Racalto, Director of Government Relations and Public Policy. “No other medical diagnosis has a criminal element associated with it. Singling out HIV and prosecuting Americans living with HIV is morally wrong and terribly misguided. As we move towards ending the epidemic by 2030, we must continue to eliminate punitive laws and the stigma associated with HIV/AIDS – an important step in that process is to pass the REPEAL Act.”

NMAC leads with race to urgently fight for health equity and racial justice to end the HIV epidemic in America. Since 1987, NMAC has advanced our mission through a variety of programs and services, including: a public policy education program, national and regional training conferences, a treatment and research program, numerous electronic and print materials, and a website: www.nmac.org. NMAC also serves as an association of AIDS service organizations, providing valuable information to community-based organizations, hospitals, clinics, and other groups assisting individuals and families affected by the HIV epidemic.

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NMAC will launch the new “ESCALATE” (Ending Stigma through Collaboration And Lifting All To Empowerment) program. Funded by a cooperative agreement with the Health Resources and Service Administration (HRSA), “ESCALATE” will work to reduce stigma against People Living With HIV at the individual, organizational, and systemic levels.

“ESCALATE” will train participants in the 57 jurisdictions identified in “Ending the HIV Epidemic: A Plan for America (EHE)” to recognize and address HIV stigma with a particular focus on transgender/gender nonconforming individuals, men who have sex with men, and the Black/African-American community. NMAC will work in partnership with NORC, Abt Associates, TRX Development and the University of Chicago.

“Stigma remains a major obstacle to HIV prevention, treatment, and care,” said NMAC Executive Director Paul Kawata. “‘Any plans to end the HIV epidemic, whether national or local, must address that stigma in order to be successful. Using our deep experience in training community leaders, NMAC will use the ESCALATE program to educate communities how to be able to see stigma when it happens and provide tools to address it when it does. It’s a huge task but one that is absolutely necessary.”

“This new HIV stigma reduction programming will help NMAC lay the foundation towards ending the HIV epidemic by year 2030 as outlined in the EHE,” said Charles Shazor, Jr., Associate Program Manager in the NMAC’s Center to End the Epidemics. “HIV stigma is a primary contributor to health gaps and disparities around access to HIV treatment and prevention within communities of color. The ESCALATE partnership will build a newly combined force of national HIV community leaders geared towards HIV stigma elimination in the 57 jurisdictions included in EHE.”

“Stigma is a pressing public health issue. It creates systemic and personal barriers for people living with HIV, which can prevent accessing needed medical care and services that improve health outcomes and overall quality of life,” said Jane E. Fox, Principal Associate, Division of Health and Environment at Abu Associates. “Abt looks forward to teaming with NMAC and others on this timely and pivotal initiative.”

“The University of Chicago is excited to lead the implementation science advisory team that will work to support, strengthen, and sustain stigma-reduction efforts in the various jurisdictions,” said Dr. Russell Brewer, Research Associate Professor at the University of Chicago, Medicine and chair of ESCALATE’s Implementation Science Advisory Team.

NMAC leads with race to urgently fight for health equity and racial justice to end the HIV epidemic in America. Since 1987, NMAC has advanced our mission through a variety of programs and services, including: a public policy education program, national and regional training conferences, a treatment and research program, numerous electronic and print materials, and a website: www.nmac.org. NMAC also serves as an association of AIDS service organizations, providing valuable information to community-based organizations, hospitals, clinics, and other groups assisting individuals and families affected by the HIV epidemic.

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NMAC has been awarded a cooperative agreement from the Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) to launch “ELEVATE” (Engage Leadership through Employment, Validation, and Advancing Transformation & Equity) for People Living with HIV.

“ELEVATE” will be a four-year national training program for people living with HIV (PLHIV) integrating five of HRSA’s community programs. ELEVATE will prepare PLHIV within planning bodies, advocacy actions, and the HIV workforce to be meaningfully engaged and central to decision-making. PLHIV will be supported to earn leadership roles. The program will focus on residents of the 57 jurisdictions identified in the federal plan to End the HIV Epidemic. NMAC will operate “ELEVATE” in partnership with JSI Research & Training Institute, Inc., The Association of Nurses in AIDS Care, and the Latino Commission on AIDS.

“From the moment the federal plan was announced, NMAC has believed that it could be a tremendous opportunity to hire people from affected communities into professional positions,” said NMAC Executive Director Paul Kawata. “‘ELEVATE’ will help make that opportunity into reality by giving potential job candidates the tools they need to be hired and succeed. We look forward to working with our constituents to help them make a difference in their communities.”

“We cannot say it enough times that meaningful engagement of people living with HIV is mandatory if we truly are committed to ending the epidemic,” said Ace Robinson, Director of the NMAC’s Center to End the Epidemics. “The vast majority of people living with HIV are racial/ethnic minorities who face a myriad of systemic societal ills in addition to HIV-related stigma. We must uplift these individuals by centering them on creating and implementing solutions. ELEVATE will help us all reach our common goal of ending the HIV epidemic.”

“ELEVATE” is modeled on NMAC’s Building Leaders of Color (BLOC) program and other training programs sponsored by HRSA including: JSI’s “Community HIV/AIDS TA Training (Planning CHATT)” and “The ACE TA Center’s In It Together Initiative;” the Center for Quality Improvement and Innovation’ s “Training Consumers on Quality Plus;” and Boston University School of Social Work’s “Improving Access to Care: Using Community Health Workers to Improve Linkage and Retention in Care (Among People of Color).”

“JSI is excited to build on our work designing and implementing Planning CHATT, as well as the ACE TA Center’s In It Together initiative, to continue to elevate community voices and enhance community members’ ability to take an active role in health care access and planning,” said Mira Levinson, Co-Director, Center for HIV & Infectious Diseases at JSI Research & Training Institute, Inc. “Our team is looking forward to applying our experience, passion, and commitment to health literacy to the continued evolution of these training resources.”

Engaging the HIV workforce to ensure that PLHIV are supported as both colleagues and patients will be central to the success of ELEVATE.

“The Association of Nurses in AIDS Care (ANAC) is looking forward to being a partner in the ELEVATE program, an important contribution to the success of the Plan to End HIV in the US,” said Carole Treston, Executive Director of the Association of Nurses in AIDS Care. “The  engagement and leadership of PLWHIV in the HIV workforce is critical to ending the epidemic and nurses have an important role in supporting their training and employment. We are proud to be part of this cooperative agreement led by NMAC and HRSA, along with JSI  and Latino Commission on AIDS.”

NMAC leads with race to urgently fight for health equity and racial justice to end the HIV epidemic in America. Since 1987, NMAC has advanced our mission through a variety of programs and services, including: a public policy education program, national and regional training conferences, a treatment and research program, numerous electronic and print materials, and a website: www.nmac.org. NMAC also serves as an association of AIDS service organizations, providing valuable information to community-based organizations, hospitals, clinics, and other groups assisting individuals and families affected by the HIV epidemic.

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Following is a statement from NMAC on the passing of Congressman John Lewis.

“In one of his last interviews, Congressman Lewis stated ‘you cannot stop the call of history,” said NMAC Executive Director Paul Kawata. “‘You may use troopers. You may use fire hoses and water, but it cannot be stopped. There cannot be any turning back. We have come too far and made too much progress to stop now and go back.’  NMAC’s mission is to lead with race to fight for health equity and racial justice to end the HIV epidemic. As we go on with our mission, we will continue to memorialize Congressman Lewis’s dream by fighting alongside the millions of Americans who were and remain inspired by Congressman Lewis’s drive to make this country a more fair and just country for all Americans.”

“Congressman John Lewis’s voice unlocked millions of American’s who shared his vision that civil rights, including the right to vote, the right to work, and the right to walk down a street without being murdered is a fundamental right which should be afforded to all Americans, regardless of their race,” said Joe Huang-Racalto, NMAC Director of Government Relations and Public Policy. “His deep faith in Americans’ ability to accept and forgive is what earned him the title of Conscience of the Congress. The power of his voice was only matched by the power of the movement he inspired.”

NMAC today hailed today’s Supreme Court decision that preserves DACA protections for undocumented immigrants brought to the United States as children.

“Today’s decision is a win not just for the immigrant community but for justice in immigration,” said Joe Huang-Racalto, NMAC’s Director of Government Relations and Public Policy. “After blatant abuses of undocumented immigrants and asylum seekers by this administration, we finally have a voice of reason in the Supreme Court saying ‘enough.’ We hope that this is just the beginning of comprehensive immigration reform and of compassionate approaches to those seeking safety and a better life in the United States.”

NMAC leads with race to urgently fight for health equity and racial justice to end the HIV epidemic in America. Since 1987, NMAC has advanced our mission through a variety of programs and services, including: a public policy education program, national and regional training conferences, a treatment and research program, numerous electronic and print materials, and a website: www.nmac.org. NMAC also serves as an association of AIDS service organizations, providing valuable information to community-based organizations, hospitals, clinics, and other groups assisting individuals and families affected by the HIV epidemic.

NMAC today hailed the Supreme Court decision in Bostock v. Clayton County which protects LGBTQ workers from being fired or denied employment because of their sexual orientation or gender identity.

“Today’s historic landmark decision by the Court ends decades of ugly behavior by employers who never valued a good employee and fired them because of who they are,” said Joe Huang-Racalto, NMAC’s Director of Government Relations and Public Policy.

By amending the Civil Rights Act of 1964, the Court ruled that Aimee Stephens, a transgender worker for a funeral home in Michigan, and Gerald Bostock, a gay employee for Clayton County in Georgia, were covered under sex discrimination as outlined in the Civil Rights Act of 64.

“Yesterday, millions of LGBT Americans went to bed fearing the loss of their jobs because of their sexual orientation or gender identity,” said Huang-Racalto.  As a result of today’s decision, those same Americans will go to bed tonight knowing that they no longer have to be fearful of losing their jobs. In the absence of a functioning Senate, we are sadly becoming more dependent on a conservative court for full civil rights. And, while today is an historic day for LGBT Americans, we know that this journey won’t be completed until the full spectrum of rights are afforded to LGBT individuals. We will continue to fight against this administration’s unrelenting attacks against transgender Americans, especially discriminatory health practices, and we will continue to fight against the ugly health crisis known as racism which continues to grip our nation.”

NMAC honors the life of Aimee Stephens, who sadly passed away on May 12, 2020.  While she was not alive to witness today’s landmark ruling, her courage and drive to improve the lives of transgender American’s will forever be memorialized.

NMAC leads with race to urgently fight for health equity and racial justice to end the HIV epidemic in America. Since 1987, NMAC has advanced our mission through a variety of programs and services, including: a public policy education program, national and regional training conferences, a treatment and research program, numerous electronic and print materials, and a website: www.nmac.org. NMAC also serves as an association of AIDS service organizations, providing valuable information to community-based organizations, hospitals, clinics, and other groups assisting individuals and families affected by the HIV epidemic.

May 13, 2020 – NMAC applauds Congresswoman Barbara Lee (D-CA) and her colleagues for more funding for people living with HIV/AIDS in the Phase IV economic stimulus package currently being considered by the U.S. House of Representatives.

“People living with HIV/AIDS who do not have access to treatment, especially racial/ethnic/sexual/gender minorities, are at a high risk of acquiring COVID-19,” said Joe Huang-Racalto, NMAC’s Director of Government Relations and Public Policy. “Given the uncertain response by the Trump Administration, we applaud Congresswoman Lee and her colleagues for their continued leadership and for ensuring that people living with HIV/AIDS are prioritized as negotiations begin on the Phase IV package,” he said.

“NMAC strongly supports these efforts and we will continue to do everything we can to ensure that adequate funding is provided, not only in the Phase IV package, but in the normal FY21 appropriations process. We urge everyone to call their members of Congress and ask them to support Congresswoman Lee’s request, “ said Huang-Racalto.

A copy of the letter can be seen here.

NMAC leads with race to urgently fight for health equity and racial justice to end the HIV epidemic in America. Since 1987, NMAC has advanced our mission through a variety of programs and services, including: a public policy education program, national and regional training conferences, a treatment and research program, numerous electronic and print materials, and a website: www.nmac.org. NMAC also serves as an association of AIDS service organizations, providing valuable information to community-based organizations, hospitals, clinics, and other groups assisting individuals and families affected by the HIV epidemic.

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