HIV+ & Homeless, As If Things Couldn't Get Any Worse

by Rich Lombino & Elizabeth Lombino · 2010-03-24 08:51:00 UTC
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It's been close to 30 years since the first patients with a rare skin cancer received treatment and were later found to have HIV, the virus that can cause AIDS. The history of HIV and AIDS is as frightening as the disease itself. Due to the moral implications, the general public and decision-makers in the medical and political worlds bickered about how to deal with this epidemic. Because of this debate, many lives were lost and countless people continued to be infected. Many of those who succumbed to the disease early on were society's most marginalized -- minorities (especially African Americans and Latinos), injection drug users, men who have sex with men and women.

Today, HIV is a chronic, treatable disease. It can be managed under careful and consistent medical treatment. Persons with the best prognosis are those who are compliant with their medical treatment and who exercise and have a good diet, a strong support system and overall wellness. Without these factors, HIV can take its toll on a person's body, often developing into AIDS. While the disease can be managed, it's unspeakably hard to manage while living on the streets or shuffling between shelters.

HIV services are often limited, and when they are available, the hazards of being homeless make it virtually impossible for a person to take his or her meds at the same time (often multiple times) everyday. Diet and exercise? Please. The focus is often on survival. Homeless individuals need to address their immediate needs (housing, substance use, mental health issues) and have support and guidance to assist them in navigating the complicated world of HIV treatment.

HIV still runs rampant among minorities and those living in poverty. In fact, HIV is spreading at alarming rates in many U.S. cities, some at rates higher than those in Sub-Sahara Africa. This is a health care disaster. We all need to work together to stop the spread of this devastating disease in our most impoverished communities. We can't continue to ignore these communities and this disease.

You can help in this fight. AIDS Walks are held all over the country each year to raise money for research and treatment. Our local walk, AIDS Walk NY/NJ, is on May 16th in Central Park. Walkers from New York will benefit GMHC (Gay Men's Health Crisis), the first AIDS service organization in the country. Those walkers from New Jersey will be helping Hyacinth AIDS Foundation, the first and largest AIDS service organization in New Jersey (and Elizabeth's employer). Wherever you are, walk with us to help combat HIV/AIDS!

Photo credit: Rich Lombino

Rich Lombino & Elizabeth Lombino are an attorney/social work student and a social worker, respectively, working to end homelessness.
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