Amida Care and End AIDS 2020 Coalition Publish Special Magazine Edition

In advance of World AIDS Day on December 1, 2016, Amida Care is publishing "Together We Can End AIDS in NYS by 2020," a special edition of The Amida Care View magazine produced in collaboration with members of the End AIDS 2020 Community Coalition. The magazine explores the history and key social drivers of the HIV/AIDS epidemic in New York and provides updates on Governor Andrew Cuomo's Blueprint to End the AIDS Epidemic (EtE) in New York State by the year 2020.

EtE is a groundbreaking initiative that positions New York as the first state to end HIV/AIDS as an epidemic by reducing the number of new HIV infections from 3,000 per year to fewer than 750 by 2020. If successfully implemented, New York's EtE Blueprint can serve as a model for the nation. Amida Care is New York's largest Medicaid special needs health plan (SNP) for people living with chronic conditions including HIV/AIDS. Amida Care President and CEO Doug Wirth served on the EtE Task Force that developed the Blueprint.

The EtE magazine features the voices and perspectives of a variety of community members, long-term survivors of HIV/AIDS, leaders of not-for-profit organizations, and health care providers who advocate for funding and resources to expand HIV/AIDS services that will help to meet EtE goals.

Contributors to the magazine include representatives from Amida Care, ASCNYC, Brightpoint Health, CAI, Callen-Lorde Community Health Center, GMHC, Harlem United, Housing Works, Latino Commission on AIDS, National Black Leadership Commission on AIDS, New York Transgender Advocacy Group, the NYC Department of Health and Mental Hygiene, Stonewall Community Foundation, Treatment Action Group, Trillium Health, and VSNY CHOICE.

By bringing these advocates together, the EtE magazine provides a comprehensive overview of advancements around HIV testing, treatment, and prevention to end AIDS in New York. Ending AIDS will not only save lives but also save millions of dollars in avoided health care costs.

The magazine highlights the importance of addressing barriers to HIV treatment and prevention, such as food insecurity, unstable housing, and unemployment. The magazine also features populations that are most impacted by HIV -- those who are homeless, people of color, young men having sex with men, and transgender individuals.

Read the EtE magazine here.