Beto O'Rourke Explains His Positions on HIV

HIV advocates have long requested that presidential candidates share their HIV policy plans, though they haven’t always gotten a response. But things have begun to change, and six of the top 2020 Democratic nominee hopefuls responded to an HIV-focused survey from ACT Now: End AIDS Coalition.

The survey was sent to every major presidential candidate, including President Trump. So far, responses have been returned from several Democratic candidates. A summary of responses can be found here. Here's what Beto O'Rourke had to say.

Plus: Earlier this year, the Trump administration introduced their plan for ending the HIV epidemic in the United States by 2030. While the HIV community welcomes the increased financial resources and attention being paid to HIV by the administration, we also understand that to end the HIV epidemic we must address the social determinants of health and inequities that have led to a high-burden of transmission for HIV, STDs, and associated illnesses within vulnerable populations. Please describe what you would do to increase access to HIV prevention and treatment services, and outline your approach for addressing the social determinants of health and promoting racial justice.

O'Rourke: To increase access to HIV prevention and treatment services, Beto recognizes that we must address some of the societal barriers and discrimination facing people with HIV. As President, Beto will ensure that health insurance and health care includes access to HIV prevention and treatment, by fully enforcing the nondiscrimination protections in the ACA and by including protections in any new system of universal health insurance. He will ensure individuals in prison can receive HIV treatment. Further, he recognizes that we must tackle price gouging by drug companies so treatments like PrEP are accessible. To address the societial barriers to care, Beto will invigorate the Presidential HIV/AIDS Advisory Council; ban the practice of discharging HIV+ servicemembers; direct the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission and the other federal agencies to collect data on and prioritize the enforcement of laws, such as non-discrimination laws, involving LGBTQ+ individuals and those with HIV.

Read more: https://www.hivplusmag.com/news/2019/9/09/beto-orourke-explains-his-positions-hiv