TeenAIDS - PeerCorps > AIDS Education and Prevention > Home ( DNN 3.1.0 ) - Emergency Blitz: They'll have blood on their hands

Location: Blogs Dr. John's Personal Blog
Posted by: host	2/12/2006
In the last two hours, I have been personally informed of severe cuts in teen HIV prevention programs in Pennsylvania and Wisconsin, all but eliminating their important work. We had a TeenAIDS-PeerCorps program for three years in sponsorship with the Erie County Board of Health. Today it is gone because of major cuts in state funding. Across Wisconsin, government cuts have crippled prevention programs geared to youth. Could this be the beginning of reports from around the country in the wake of new federal and state budget cuts on education? The timing couldn't be more curious following the State of the Union and Congress' recent budget votes. Are they really trying to cut waste and extend tax cuts or are other social considerations at play here? Perhaps some crafty politicians are finally realizing two of their goals for the price of one. It smells like biological censorship hiding in the sheepskin of tax cutting. We tell the medical truth. Small-minded people who want to... In the last two hours, I have been personally informed of severe cuts in teen HIV prevention programs in Pennsylvania and Wisconsin, all but eliminating their important work. We had a TeenAIDS-PeerCorps program for three years in sponsorship with the Erie County Board of Health. Today it is gone because of major cuts in state funding. Across Wisconsin, government cuts have crippled prevention programs geared to youth. Could this be the beginning of reports from around the country in the wake of new federal and state budget cuts on education? The timing couldn't be more curious following the State of the Union and Congress' recent budget votes. Are they really trying to cut waste and extend tax cuts or are other social considerations at play here? Perhaps some crafty politicians are finally realizing two of their goals for the price of one. It smells like biological censorship hiding in the sheepskin of tax cutting. Both pilot and established programs alike are being de-funded to extend tax cuts at a time when our youth are more at risk than ever before. Today, 25% of all new cases of HIV in the U.S. occur among teens, 13 to 19 years old. A decade ago, that number was negligible. What the heck are these politicians thinking? Obviously, not much except appealing to their political bases despite the fact that greater numbers of young people will now contract HIV out of ignorance. Not only is this morally wrong but economically it doesn't make sense when the resulting AIDS costs in the future will be tremendous and overtax our health budgets. I am not pleading for TeenAIDS or myself because we have never accepted any government funds - or any donations that come with "politically-correct" strings attached, no matter what Party is in power! I preach self-reliance to teens to be responsible for their health and that of their friends. I don't want TeenAIDS to be reliant on seductive handouts that try to "control" our message (please click here to see the ABC's of AIDS, my philosophy). We tell the medical truth. Small-minded people who want to keep the medical facts from sexually curious teens are helping AIDS to spread, not preventing it. In their zeal to eliminate prevention programs to satisfy their agendas, they will have the blood of destroyed young lives on their hands and we will hold them accountable. I am setting up a section on this website that will be a Message Board for posting these announcements and reporting the names of the politicians and their lackeys who are abdicating their responsibility to the health and welfare of our youth. We are the main teen-oriented charitable organization leading the fight against this head-in-the-sand mentality (an oxymoron, if I ever heard one). Our mission is to start meaningful conversations that empower youth to get involved and help spread the facts to peers to stop HIV. But with the drastic funding cuts that we are witnessing, teens are going to be more at risk, not more safe. The only "vaccine" we have presently is education and as an expert in the adolescent field, I can assure you that peers make the most effective HIV prevention messengers we have -- and as PeerCorps volunteers, at negligible cost to taxpayers.

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