Valentines Day brought some tough love
for San Francisco AIDS agencies and officials. The cantankerous
cupid came in the form of a report released by a conservative
taxpayers group attacking numerous AIDS agencies for allegedly
mismanaging public funds.
The report from Citizens Against Government
Waste attempts to package missives from two radical ACT UP groups
and AIDS activist Michael Petrelis into an alarming exposé
aimed at reducing the amount of federal funding HIV prevention
programs receive.
Many prevention programs actually promote
risky behavior, and are using taxpayer dollars to do so,
writes Kerrie Rezac in the report titled, AIDS Programs:
An Epidemic of Waste.
Most of the reports arrows skewering
AIDS agencies for misspending funds are aimed directly at five
Bay Area agencies. The
San Francisco AIDS Foundation received criticism for sponsoring
Sex on the Net, 2001: A Sexual Odyssey last year
while at the same time health officials warned Internet chat
rooms were spreading sexually transmitted diseases [emphasis added].
The Asian Pacific Islander Wellness Center
is listed for sponsoring the first Mr. and Ms. UTOPIA pageant
whose flier noted the event was partially funded by the
CDC.
The Stop AIDS Project is used several times
as an example of alleged wasteful spending, once for its upcoming
program GUYWATCH: Blow by Blow. According to the
report, the advertisement for the seminar reads, in part: What
tricks do you want to share to make your man tremble with delight?
Positive Force received mention for holding
a Poz Prom and for offering flirting classes
and, last July, host(ing) a workshop on how to have anal intercourse
if you suffer from diarrhea
Also, the report slams the University of California,
San Franciscos AIDS Health Project for sponsoring HIV bowling
nights and daytime cruises of San Francisco Bay.
Officials for the agencies dismissed the report
as being inaccurate and outdated. They cautioned the reports
real intention is not to save taxpayer money but to derail effective
HIV prevention programs.
The report is a red herring. A
few Republicans in D.C. want to defund HIV prevention for gay
men. I think it is highly irresponsible because the path
that they are taking will devastate peoples lives,
said Darlene Weide, executive director of Stop AIDS. What
really is obscene is that 20 years into the epidemic, when we
know prevention works, we are spending precious resources and
time at having to respond to these redundant investigations and
reports. We are in compliance. We know prevention
works. Let us do our job.
The report attempts to validate its venom
for these agencies wasteful spending by connecting
it to the governments War on Terrorism.
It is more important than ever for the
federal government to use its resources in the most cost-effective
manner possible to find a cure for AIDS and to protect the country
against chemical warfare and bioterroism. Duplicative social
programs and pornographic prevention seminars do nothing to bring
about an end to this dreaded disease or to combat terrorism,
states the report.
But the worst vitriol in the report is leveled
at Steven Tierney, the citys director of HIV prevention.
Tierney is charged with not taking HIV prevention seriously
and attacked for not reprimanding an HIV-positive prevention
worker for admitting to the New York Times that he had
unprotected sex.
In addition, the report characterizes Tierneys
attitude as callous and questions his ability to
comply with federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
guidelines regulating how agencies spend federal funding on prevention
programs.
Not only does Tierney scoff at the standards
set for federal programs by the CDC, he also cant control
the activities of the groups under his agencys purview
that rely on tax dollars for their work. While one can hope that Tierney is
an exception to the leadership required at local departments
of health, there is nonetheless systemic duplication and waste
in AIDS programs throughout the country,
states the report [emphasis added].
In an interview with the Bay Area Reporter,
Tierney dismissed the report as merely old news from the radical
members of ACT UP/San Francisco, whose members argues that AIDS
is over, and ACT UP/D.C.
There is nothing in there that is fresh.
It is standard Michael Petrelis language, said Tierney,
who said he was never contacted by the author of the report or
anyone from the taxpayers group. They take a couple
of alleged facts and wrap a whole story around it. They
never even made any attempt to contact me to find out if anything
they were saying is true.
Despite the reports ominous tone, Tierney
said he is not concerned that it will have any impact on how
the government funds HIV prevention programs. He added
he doesnt mind bearing the brunt of the attacks if it keeps
HIV and AIDS on the public agenda.
We work hard to do HIV prevention here
in innovative and effective ways. If it gets the attention
of people and keeps people talking about HIV prevention, then
I am happy to have them beat up on me a little bit, said
Tierney.
AIDS activist Jeff Getty, a member of Survive
AIDS, dismissed the notion there is widespread mismanagement
of funds by prevention programs. But he said such attacks
will continue if these agencies remain hidden behind closed doors.
This is a sad thing, but unfortunately,
it is a result of AIDS organizations for years and years not
being willing to show their books to the public and not having
open relationships with the community, said Getty. This
is what happens every time you circle the wagons anytime someone
questions how you are spending the money.
Getty attacked the two ACT UP groups for courting
right-wing Republicans in order to further their own political
causes.
They cant change the AIDS funding
structure so they go and try to destroy it, he said. It
is not fair to use right-wing lobbyist organizations inherent
homophobia to beat up on AIDS agencies. There has got to
be a better way to do this.
At the Valentines Day press conference
in Washington, D.C., ACT UP/D.C. coordinator Wayne Turner thanked
the taxpayer group for its report and vowed to continue to question
how AIDS agencies spend federal money.
Too
many HIV/AIDS patients have needlessly suffered and died as a
direct result of AIDS funding abuses. Only through vigilance
and increased oversight can we ensure that public funds earmarked
for medical treatment and care actually help patients in need, said Turner [emphasis added]. By
identifying the deficiencies in HIV/AIDS patient care, we can
better work at the federal and local level to improve the quality
and accessibility of services that those living with HIV/AIDS
depend upon for their very survival.
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