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May 7, 2003
This week the Department of Health initiated recruitment for three
HIV care positions that have been declared critical by Hawaii’s
HIV/AIDS community. The three positions are in the Hawaii
Seropositivity and Medical Management Program (HSPAMM) in the STD/AIDS
Prevention Branch. They provide essential clinical, laboratory and HIV
medications for people living with HIV and AIDS. HSPAMM serves over 930
individuals and through its HIV Drug Assistance Program it provides HIV
medications to over 300 clients who would other wise not have access to
treatment. The program receives over $2 million in federal funding
annually.
The Governor Linda Lingle, on the strong recommendation of the
Director of Health, Dr. Chiyome Fukino, responded to the community
concerns by giving approval to recruit for the positions. Dr. Fukino
stated that, "we understand the critical importance of our HIV care
services and we’re not about to allow any interruption of in
services."
The HIV community lead led by the Governor's Committee on HIV/AIDS
(GCHA), provider organizations and clients clearly stressed the
importance of filling the positions before they expired on June 30.
This was reported previously in the media. Dr. Cyril Goshima, the Chair
of GCHA expressed pleasure at the Governor's decision, "We were
counting on the new Administration to listen to and be responsive to
the voice of the community and we were not disappointed."
Tom Sheeran, a co-chair of Hawaii CARES, the Hawaii HIV care
services consortium and a strong advocate stated, "community members
are tremendously relieved to know that these vital services will not be
interrupted. We congratulate the Administration on their responsiveness
by cutting the red tape that stood between people and health care."
Paul Groesbeck, Executive Director of the Life Foundation also
stated, "This is good news for hundreds of people living with HIV who
depend on these very critical Department of Health services. The timely
action of the Governor and her staff is greatly appreciated."
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For more information, contact:
Janice Okubo, Department of Health
Phone: (808) 586-4442
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