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About Just out. (Portland, OR) 1983-2013 | View Entire Issue (May 1, 1998)
may 1.1998 * Jaast out ^3 S halala S huffle Health and Human Services admits under pressure that needle exchange w orks, but federal funding is not forthcoming by Bob W ith one hand, the Clinton administration officially lift ed the ban on federal fund ing of needle exchange pro grams, which aim to reduce the spread of HIV. W ith the other hand, how ever, officials withheld funding from such pro grams. Secretary of Health and Human Services Donna Shalala surrounded herself with the sur geon general and the directors of the federal National Institutes of Health and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention at an April 20 Washington, D.C., news conference address ing needle exchange. During the briefing she said the programs were “life-saving” interventions that require a “careful local design.” (Literally dozens of stud ies have concluded that needle exchange pro- Roehr charged James Loyce Jr., executive director of A ID S Project Los Angeles. “This egregious dis regard for science and public health may sacri fice the lives of 33 Americans who will be infected by dirty needles each day on the altar of political expediency.” Sean Strub, founder and executive editor of POZ magazine, added, “The fact is, virtually every infant bom with HIV and most of the women who have acquired HIV in recent years can credit Bill C linton and Donna Shalala with their illnesses. This was a litmus test issue. If [Shalala] truly recognized the science and the efficacy of these programs, she should have been willing to resign over it or go public in favor of federal funding.” T he negative feedback didn’t end there. Longtime Clinton backer U .S. Rep. Nancy Pelosi, a California Democrat, said, “It defies Alameda TUXED at the Alameda Bridal Fain 5707 NE Fremont • Portland, OR (503) 287-2824 WHEEL ALIGNMENTS & TIRES (5 0 3 ) 2 3 2 -3 6 0 0 2454 E. B U R N SID E • P O R T L A N D , O R 97214 Family Owned & Operated Since 1952 ▼Buying or Selling...? Let Our Family Help Your Family into the Home of Your Dreams! " Donna Shalala R. Scott Hitt grams can lead to a reduction in the rate of HIV transmission.) But, she added, “We will not release federal funds at this point.” Shalala did not explain how federal funding and local design were incompatible. Reaction to Shalala’s pronouncement was swift. “It is unconscionable that the administration acknowledges that needle exchange programs work and save lives, then turn their backs on people who are in need,” said Daniel Zingale, executive director of the A ID S Action Council. “At best this is hypocrisy, at worst its a lie,” charged R. S co tt Hitt, chairm an o f the Presidential Advisory Council on HIV/AIDS. “And no matter what, it’s immoral.” T he council issued a statement redoubling its call for federal funding of needle exchange pro grams as part of a comprehensive program of reducing new HIV infections. T he statement called Shalala’s action “akin to refusing to throw a life preserver to a drowning person.” It also urged Clinton to “check his moral compass and then take bold action.” H. Alexander Robinson, a W ashington A ID S lobbyist and chair of the PACHA com mittee on prevention, said, “O nce again this administration has managed to do something that satisfies no one.” “Shalala abdicated her responsibility to pro tect the health of United States citizens today,” logic to determine a program’s efficacy and then not fund the program, especially in the middle o f an epidemic. The administration’s decision shows a lack of political will in the midst of a public health emergency.” Winnie Stachelberg, political director of the Human Rights Campaign, said the decision “validated the politics of the Family Research Council, which wishes to play politics with peo ple’s lives.” Even opponents of needle exchange were displeased. Republican Sen. John Ashcroft of Missouri blasted Shalala’s half measure as “an intolerable message that it’s time to accept drug use as a way o f life.” He is running for the G O P presidential nom ination and is thought by many to be the favorite of the Christian right wing. A statement released in late April by U.S. Sen. Chuck Grassley, an Iowa Republican, said federal funding of needle exchange “would in reality use tax dollars and the authority of the federal government to push drug paraphernalia into already drug-ravaged inner cities. This is reckless and irresponsible.” Meanwhile, U .S. Sen. Paul Coverdell, a Georgia Republican, introduced a bill that would prevent the secretary from ever lifting the ban— an action that has the full backing of the Family Research Council. We siarf by Hsiening... " ▼ ▼ ▼ ...to your hopes ...to your wishes ...to your dreams'' w/Hctlunn Qanxes Associate Broker, GRt Mu/ttmil/ion - dollar Producer Karen Qorensen, Licensed Assistant equity group realtors, inc. ▼ OUT on Broadwau..! 2100 NE Broadway, Quite 1-B Portland, O R 9 7 2 3 2 Karen, Millynn & Belle CALL NOW to schedule your FR EE CONSULTATION! ▼Office 5 0 3 -2 8 7 -8 9 8 9 xl2 2 ▼Cellular/pager 3 3 0 -H 0 M E(4 8 8 3 ) ▼OUT of the a re a?... 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