Links and sources:

pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC...).

www.pbs.org/wgbh/frontli...

www.goodrx.com/healthcare-a...

www.kff.org/hiv-aids/the...

It's easy to consider AIDS a thing of the past, but every day we edge closer to losing the ground and reserch our predecessors paid for with their lives.

Undetectable = Untransmitable, but I think the people that don't have to live with this tend to downplay what staying Undetectable requires.

8,000 people shouldn't still be dying annually. Sadly, I only expect that number to go up. Given my current situation, viral load, and CD4, I may even join that statistic by next year.

Why I felt this years message/information should be this:

The fight isn't over. Don't ever get too comfortable.

All this to say,

So often in our day and age people love to remind me that it is no longer a death sentence. Yeah. I'm lucky for that. But it's still a life sentence, one that people just assume is easy to manage despite pharmaceutical greed and administrative efforts of culling us quietly.

Unfortunately, this is an ongoing issue for most medical conditions in the U.S.A.

But with HIV treatment, being forced to stop your medication—however briefly—can often result in a virus mutation that renders that treatment infective. To build resistance to the most modern meds is death.

Furthermore, most studies I've reviewed found that (to nobody's surprise) the poor, p.o.c., and trans individuals tend to face greater barriers seeking care, rooted in discrimination.

Coupled with other complex health issues some of these demographics often face, proper care becomes inaccessible.

One study found that mortality was 22% higher among people using HIV antiretroviral therapy who had lost their low-Income subsidy for medications compared to those who retained it, directly linking loss of coverage to higher death rates.

With more and more grants being gutted, options are slimming.

However, private insurance premiums and deductibles may rise, or policies may be terminated for a number of reasons, such as a change in employment. Likewise, a patient's eligibility for publicly funded coverage plays a role.

Or, your insurance company refuses to pay for any options. (Me, atm.)

HIV medication costs over $30,000 on average per person per year. While some programs do exist to help, reaching certain income thresholds or being offered insurance through an employer can cause individuals to immediately lose access to that assistance—often even from being married.

Antiretroviral (ARV) adherence is often largely considered from the perspective of an individual's behavior with less attention given to potential structural causes for lapses in treatment, such as the cost of medications and care.

Around 8,000 people die Aids-related deaths each year in the U.S., but most of these deaths are among individuals not engaged in active care and treatment. Lack of consistent access to medication due to cost is a key barrier to care for countless affected.

Specific annual statistics on the exact number of Americans who die explicitly from being unable to afford their HIV medication are not tracked by major health organizations with direct metrics, but research indicates that financial barriers significantly increase fatalities. (Who'd have thunk it?)

The nativity is a personal thing. Mom always wanted the whole set. Dad wouldn't buy it.

I set it up and send her the picture every year now.

Pt 3

Pt 2

I loooove this VN and it highkey is not talked about enough.