NYT/AP: Katrina Displaces Thousands With HIV

[DeepModem Mom]

Katrina Displaces Thousands With HIV
By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
Published: September 13, 2005
Filed at 9:13 a.m. ET


About 8,000 people with HIV and AIDS who were displaced by Hurricane Katrina now face the massive challenge of trying to manage their disease without their doctors, their clinics and their support systems.

''I'm very frustrated right now,'' said Noel Twilbeck, executive director of the NO/AIDS Task Force, the oldest HIV/AIDS service organization in the Gulf South. ''We absolutely have to get people their medication. This is a frightening situation.''...

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HIV-infected people typically take a ''cocktail'' of medications that can include upward of 20 pills a day. When patients go off their medication, the virus can multiply and they develop resistance to the drugs. Studies have repeatedly shown patients have a better chance of keeping their HIV under control by not missing doses.

The NO/AIDS Task Force has found a temporary home at the Montrose Clinic in Houston, a medical center that specializes in the needs of the lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender community. Montrose's executive director Katy Caldwell said evacuees have been arriving by the dozens....

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The AIDS Alliance for Children, Youth and Families estimates at least 8,000 HIV-infected people are now trying to get care....Federal officials say they're doing their best to streamline care to HIV-infected patients, and several drug companies are offering free medication. Meanwhile, providers in Florida, Tennessee, Alabama, Mississippi, Georgia and beyond report that displaced patients are showing up at their clinics and asking for new prescriptions, quickly....


http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/national/AP-Katrina-AIDS.html