Developing multiple prevention strategies, Part II—In conversation with U.S.-Based Jessica Terlikowski

Original content from the Mapping Pathways blog team

“We need to ensure access to all forms of prevention and treatment is readily and easily available for anyone who needs it, so people can reduce their risk, get the prevention and care they need, reduce onward transmission and lead healthy lives.”

Jessica Terlikowski is director of regional organizing at AIDS United based in Washington, D.C. and was most recently a policy manager at the AIDS Foundation of Chicago. Both organizations are Mapping Pathways partners. Jessica is co-founder of the Chicago Female Condom Campaign, and coordinates the National Female Condom Coalition. She was recently honored by the AIDS Legal Council of Chicago  as “Advocate of the year” for outstanding work in making a difference in the lives of people with HIV and AIDS. 

 In part 1 of her interview, Jessica discussed the importance of scaling up interventions we know that work while moving forward with new strategies like PrEP. In part II of the interview, she discusses some of the challenges that have to be overcome in the HIV prevention landscape.

MP: In our previous conversation, you mentioned a lack of political will to invest in resources? Could you elaborate on that?

JT: In the United States, there are a number of state and federal lawmakers who are proposing deep cuts to health care, prevention, and other public assistance programs in the name of “fiscal responsibility.” They claim that by reducing the government’s spending on such programs, we can begin to turn the U.S. economy around. However, such cuts would be devastating to those of us who already struggle financially and have limited to no access to healthcare – the majority of people with HIV. Additionally, decimating health and social safety net programs results in higher future costs which simple doesn’t make good economic sense.

Federal funding for syringe-exchange programs has recently been banned once more, just two years after our Congress lifted a 21-year ban. These programs provide sterile syringes, male and female condoms, HIV and hepatitis counseling and testing, vaccinations, and many other lifesaving services to injection-drug users and their partners.  Syringe exchange is one of the most successful and cost-effective interventions we have. 

We’re in a situation now where we are getting conflicting messages from our leaders. On the one hand, we have Secretary of State Hillary Clinton saying, “we can have an AIDS-free generation “, while at the same time Congress is making decisions that undercut efforts to actually get us to that point.

MP: Why is the work that Mapping Pathways is doing important right now?

JT: Our work especially matters because we have a number of tools now and coming down the pike to stem the HIV epidemic. We have several strategies at our disposal including PrEP and TLC+. While the stakeholder interviews and community input sessions are hugely beneficial to us, they also inform, educate and create a discussion among the stakeholders and the communities they belong to.

Many people’s knowledge of ARV-based prevention strategies is limited. They also have a lot of questions and concerns. . We are creating a space for people to learn and to discuss each of the options and how they relate to each other. Mapping Pathways participants then communicate and discuss the broader issues with their own communities. This is something that we are working on now—the dissemination of the community and expert perspectives we collected in the first year of the project.

Mapping Pathways is also important here in the U.S. because HIV continues to be a big problem here that especially impacts people who are already marginalized: people with low incomes, gay men, transgender women and women of color, people who use drugs. These are communities whose needs must be prioritized if we are to reduce the number of new HIV infections.

Mapping Pathways is all about having conversations about ARV-based prevention strategies. We need to make sure that these strategies are not going to be reserved just for people who already have access to healthcare.  We need to ensure access to all forms of prevention and treatment is readily and easily available for anyone who needs it, so people can reduce their risk, get the prevention and care they need, reduce onward transmission and lead healthy lives.

MP: Is this possible in the U.S. context right now?

JT: It is, but it won’t happen overnight. AIDS is a social justice issue and not just a public health issue. We have to talk about many other issues when we talk about HIV, like sex, drugs, and poverty, which are not things many people feel comfortable talking about. Our job as advocates is to raise these issues with decision makers and educate and organize our communities to build the necessary political will.

  

MP: What is the most satisfying part of your job?

JT: I think the most satisfying part of my job is working with others who share a common passion and drive on these issues. We are all deeply committed to working with our communities to increase political will for greater investment in and attention on HIV prevention, treatment, and care issues.

Read the first part of Jessica’s interview here, and learn more about the Mapping Pathways learnings from the U.S. here. 

[Content that is linked from other sources is for informational purposes and should not construe a Mapping Pathways position. Please look for us on Facebook here www.facebook.com/MappingPathways and you can follow us on Twitter @mappingpathways as well.]