ACRIA Applauds Governor Cuomo and Mayor de Blasio for Announcing Affordable Housing Protection for Low-Income New Yorkers with HIV/Aids; Urges Governor Cuomo to Establish Task Force to End Aids in New York
(NEW YORK CITY) ACRIA commends yesterday’s announcement by Governor Cuomo and Mayor de Blasio to ensure that low-income, permanently disabled New Yorkers with HIV/AIDS have access to affordable housing. The Governor and Mayor are committed to capping rent for this vulnerable population to 30% of their income—an equitable and considerable improvement over the current policy and a significant step toward keeping New Yorkers healthy.
“This action by Governor Cuomo and Mayor de Blasio is essential to the health and well-being of over 10,000 New Yorkers who would otherwise be unable to remain in or secure appropriate housing,” Daniel Tietz, ACRIA Executive Director, said. “We commend the Governor and Mayor for recognizing that affordable housing is integral to keeping people with HIV in treatment, which in turn preserves their health and helps stop the spread of the virus.”
Mr. Tietz also noted that implementing the 30% rent cap is the first of several steps New York State and City officials will need to take to end the epidemic. “Although there are more New Yorkers living with HIV than in any other state in the nation, we can truly end the AIDS epidemic that has plagued us for more than 30 years. Although there is still no cure, we now have the knowledge and means to dramatically reduce new HIV infections and promote optimal health for those with HIV via concerted and coordinated efforts by and among the community, government, consumers, health care and services providers, and academia.” Therefore, ACRIA urges Governor Cuomo to create a Task Force to End AIDS in New York charged with developing a strategic blueprint and plan in collaboration with the NYS Department of Health AIDS Institute, the NYC Department of Health and Mental Hygiene, and several other NYS and NYC government and community stakeholders. In so doing, New York will serve as a national model for ending the epidemic.
Ending AIDS in New York will require five related activities:
- Twenty-first-century surveillance: Knowing who is living with HIV and making sure they’re getting needed services;
- Evidence-based combination HIV prevention for both HIV-negative and HIV-positive persons;
- Focusing on filling the gaps in the HIV continuum of care to maximize the speed, proportion, and number of people able to successfully suppress their HIV as soon as possible after diagnosis;
- Ensuring the availability of essential supportive services for all New Yorkers, whether HIV-negative or HIV-positive, so that they remain healthy and aviremic, and do not contract or transmit HIV; and supporting research needed to improve service delivery and optimize outcomes; and
- Committing political leaders and all New York communities to leadership and ownership of the New York Plan to End AIDS.
Governor Cuomo’s leadership in establishing this process and very publicly committing to its goals, together with vocal expressions of support from key Senate and Assembly leaders, as well as Mayor de Blasio and the New York City Council, is vital to this effort. If established, the task force will devise a plan to ensure the availability of essential services that support health, prevention, and retention in care for all New Yorkers, whether infected or not, and guide New York to becoming a national and global leader in ending the HIV/AIDS epidemic.
