Walgreens and GGVII
TO: DAVID BERNAUER, CEO, WALGREENS
Dear Mr. Bernauer:
I firmly support Walgreen Company's sponsorship of the 2006 Gay Games in Chicago. I will encourage friends and colleagues to shop at Walgreens as a result of this sponsorship.
Please do not cave in to the pressure from certain minority interest groups that are trying to intimidate you. These people are fighting a dying battle that ultimately will be extinguished by enlightened institutions such as yours.
David Reithoffer, Chicago
HIV Names Reporting
With the announcement that Illinois is now joining the growing number of states reporting HIV/AIDS cases by name rather than by assigned numbers that maintain individual confidentiality in order to receive federal dollars ( see the AIDS Foundation of Chicago's Web site, www.aidschicago.org ) , we find it disturbing that the major players in providing HIV/AIDS services are shifting their positions to quietly go along with this policy or are remaining silent. We believe that a strong voice must be heard that denounces this trend not just on the grounds of civil rights and confidentiality, but on the fact that we see the positives in the new policy are far-outweighed by harmful negatives. In a time when prevention programs are already struggling with what messages are allowed to be delivered, encouraging people to go for HIV testing and then telling them that their names will be reported to the state should they test positive will not serve as an incentive to do what we must do—encourage all people to know their status as early as possible in order to curb the spread of HIV. We believe that the shift in the policy does not maintain the integrity of the system; it just keeps the money flowing while sacrificing the integrity of the system and the mission.
One of the justifications for the reporting of names is so that there will be a decrease in the duplication ( or 'double-dipping' as it is called ) of services, meaning one person moving from place to place receiving duplicate services. While we understand the need for government programs to operate with integrity and accountability, our current reality and our history clearly show that the problems of government integrity are pervasive in the system itself. We maintain that reporting names to a corrupt or suspect system will only lead to further problems, and that the government agencies first need to learn how to operate with integrity at the highest levels and demonstrate this to the community before instituting 'integrity-driven' policies at the service end of the system.
HIV/AIDS is a disease that disproportionately affects the disenfranchised and the vulnerable in this country and around the world—women, minorities, the economic poor, and gay men. As we have seen over the years with natural disasters and disease pandemics, these groups always suffer greater consequences than those with means and power. Already we know of countless people with HIV who hide their medications in their houses, and live in fear that their family, friends, employers and churches might find out they have HIV. To add to the fear by reporting them by name to the government will only drive away those whom we most need to reach.
We call on all people to speak up—to not let the landscape merely shift, but to be a part of shifting the landscape. Call your state and federal representatives and let them know that this policy is wrong. Put your dollars and energy into those places that work to maintain the confidentiality and dignity of all those living with and at-risk for HIV while advocating for a world where all people can know their HIV status without fear of isolation and rejection. Nowhere in the world has a policy of names reporting been shown to be effective. In fact, effective strides in stemming the spread of HIV are made when people feel safe to self-disclose, but their confidentiality is otherwise maintained. For our state and federal governments to do otherwise is wrong. And for AIDS activists and advocates to be silent or to alter their agency policies to endorse this is a move in the wrong direction at a time when we most need cost-effective policies. Many of us have seen the marketing of the statement 'The fight is not over'; by going along with this policy, it looks to us like we have lost.
Brad Ogilvie, Canticle Ministries, Wheaton ( and person with HIV ) ; Lynn Gronwick, West Chicago; George Safford, Warrenville;
Matthew M. Verscheure, Aurora; Paul M. Eide, Aurora; Steve Mahkovec, Lisle; Mark Pence, Wheaton; Dr. Harvey M. Wolf, Evanston; Charles Hewitt, Evanston; Grace Fill, Wheaton; Ladd McClurg, Wheaton; Jeana Stewart, West Chicago; David Allen, Lombard
