Puerto Rico Crisis Online Resource Center

“The ongoing and escalating HIV/AIDS care crisis in Puerto Rico demonstrates the importance of improving access to care for all persons living with HIV/AIDS under the American flag.  What is happening to our brothers and sister in this beautiful U.S. island Commonwealth should be of concern to all of us.  It is imperative that AIDS advocates in Puerto Rico, and across the United States for that matter, call attention to the inadequate access to HIV medications and medical care available to this vulnerable population, and advocate – loudly - that the time is past due improve the necessary HIV medications, HIV care and services for persons living with HIV/AIDS in Puerto Rico.” 
— Delegate Donna Christian-Christensen (D-V.I.)

 

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BREAKING NEWS
September 25, 2008
Department of Health & Human Services

OIG Report: Puerto Rico Needs to Return $28 Million

[Excerpt] As a result, we estimated that the Health Department claimed $24,340,789 in unallowable Federal funding for grant years 2002-2004.  This overpayment occurred because the Health Department had not developed procedures to bill HIV/AIDS drugs to the insurance plans with primary payment responsibility.

READ LETTER

BREAKING NEWS
August 21, 2008
POZ

The State of AIDS in Puerto Rico; Why 47 Million U.S. Dollars Can't Keep the Island's People From Dying

Many of the estimated 11,000 people living with AIDS in the U.S. commonwealth of Puerto Rico have been abandoned and left for dead. The local and federal officials entrusted with protecting their health have been accused of mismanaging AIDS funding, which leaves positive Puerto Ricans in a lethal limbo between American and Puerto Rican aid—and feeling utterly lost on their own island.

BREAKING NEWS
July 1, 2008
PRESS RELEASE

Governor signs legislation that benefits HIV/AIDS patients

San Juan, Puerto Rico - Governor Aníbal Acevedo-Vilá signed a bill amending the Health Reform Act, so that the list of medications for Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV) and Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome (AIDS) patients is revised annually. READ MORE...

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Related Links:

DOWNLOAD Summary of Puerto Rico AIDS Crisis

VISIT Comprehensive Website 'UNID@S DÁNDOLE CARA AL SIDA'

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 Puerto Rico HIV-AIDS Crisis Video
See the video.  Warning! Some scene contains strong images.

CLICK HERE TO WATCH VIDEO

On January 29-30, 2008 during the first Latino/Hispanic AIDS Action Agenda attendees of the conference gave overwhelming support to a resolution by the delegation from Puerto Rico to make the crisis on the island a National priority as a consequence, that resolution became one of the top five action steps for the National Latino/Hispanic AIDS Agenda. 

Not coincidently, days later a bill was introduced in the US Congress HR – 5292 to try to deal with the Puerto Rico HIV-AIDS Crisis.

See the video.  Warning! Some scene contains strong images.

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News Reports:

• 8 States Cut From System That Tracks Rate of H.I.V.
  The New York Times
  August 22, 2008

ATLANTA — Eight states and Puerto Rico will no longer receive federal money for an advanced H.I.V. monitoring system that showed that the annual infection rate in the nation was 40 percent higher than previously estimated, officials at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said Friday.

• U.S. official: P.R. has not had to return any AIDS/HIV grant funds
  The San Juan Star
  May 14, 2008

WASHINGTON — The Puerto Rico government has not had to return $28 million in AIDS funds as previously reported, nor has it been required to return any funds in the porogram in the past five years, a spokeswoman for the U.S. Health Resources and Services Administration said Tuesday.

• Health denies it had to return AIDS funds; Perez Perdomo says $28 million in question was used to buy drugs
  The San Juan Star
  May 12, 2008

WASHINGTON — Health Secretary Rosa Perez Perdomo denied Friday's claim by Resident Commissioner Luis Fortuno that the commonwealth government had to return some $28 million in federal Ryan White HIV/AIDS funds between 2005 and 2007.

• P.R. returns $28 million in federal AIDS funds
  The San Juan Star
  May 9, 2008

WASHINGON — The Puerto Rico government has had to return some $28 million in federal Ryan White HIV/AIDS funds between 2005-2007 because it could not spend the money in the time allotted, said Resident Commissioner Luis Fortuno.  Fortuno called the amount of the return "unbelievable," considering the high rate of AIDS on the island.

• Puerto Rico’s AIDS Care in Disarray Over Funds
  New York Times
  June 5, 2007

SAN JUAN, P.R. — His emaciated body advertises the damage wreaked by the AIDS virus. But over the last year, Rolando Warren González, 41, a former steel band member, has faced an extra challenge to his survival.

From the shelter where he lives in Loiza in Puerto Rico’s impoverished northeast, Mr. González travels an hour and a half by bus to reach the government clinic where he receives his “cocktail” of antiviral drugs.

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 Correspondence:

• HRSA Administrator Elizabeth M. Duke Letter to the Honorable Luis G. Fortuno - July 1, 2008
• The Honorable Luis G. Fortuno, et. al. Letter to HHS Secretary Michael O. Leavitt - May 7, 2008
• Anselmo Fonseca, Co-Founder/VP of Pacientes de SIDA pro Politica Sana, Letter to Leaders of the Hispanic Congressional Caucus - April 29, 2008 
• Anselmo Fonseca, Co-Founder/VP of Pacientes de SIDA pro Politica Sana, Letter to Dr. Jorge Delgado & Dr. Rosa Perez Perdomo of Puerto Rico Department of Health - April 7, 2008
• HRSA Response Letter to Puerto Rico AIDS Advocate, Jose F. Colon - April 3, 2008