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COPY & PASTE DOCUMENT (This survey was emailed to SCU by Hepatitis, AIDs, Research Trust) This questionnaire is sponsored by:
Please complete and return to HEART by August 15, 2006. Your response will be posted to both web sites and released to the media by September 1, 2006 to inform the voters of your position. There are approximately 5.8 million people infected with Hepatitis C within the United States and 1 million with HIV/AIDS; as such, they can be considered a large voting block whose interests will need to be dealt with in the coming years. Hepatitis C is a blood borne virus that infects over 5.8 million Americans, four times the rate of the AIDS virus. It is the leading cause of liver transplants in the United States and infects over 200 million people worldwide. Based on National Institutes of Health statistics, 30 percent of those infected are expected to develop end stage liver disease (1.8 million) with only 5,000 organs available annually for transplant in the United States. When end stage failure occurs, the patient's only hope is a liver transplant. There is no cure, no vaccine, and the few available treatments are lengthy, expensive, and debilitating. Early detection, through testing, is essential. Not surprisingly, both diseases strike hardest at the poor and ethnic minorities, but is non-discriminatory. All races, both genders, and all socioeconomic levels, are affected by this disease. The economic impact for both diseases will be considerable. Both diseases are non-discriminatory, affecting all races, both genders, and all socioeconomic levels. Government, at all levels in the United States and local States are doing far too little to combat Hepatitis C and HIV/AIDS. Conservative estimates place the costs of lost productivity and medical care arising both diseases in the United States at over $600 Million annually. Such costs are expected to increase in the absence of expanded prevention and treatment efforts. As a candidate for the 2006 Election, we are asking you to respond to 14 questions. Please make your answers brief and to the point. 1. It is estimated that over 5.8 million Americans are infected with the Hepatitis C virus and over 30 percent develop end stage liver disease. Most victims do not know they are infected. Early detection is essential if Hepatitis C is to be successfully treated. If you were elected to the office you are seeking, would you actively work to make sure the state does more to educate the public about Hepatitis C? Why? How? 2. Statistics indicate that there are over four persons with Hepatitis C for every person with HIV/AIDS in the United States. Many are co infected. Yet, government, at all levels, is allocating far less money for Hepatitis C than for AIDS education, testing, treatment, and research. What will you do, if elected? 3. If you were elected to the position you are seeking, what would you do to help improve the state’s overall attitude and funding for either or both HIV/AIDS and Hepatitis C? 4. Nationally it is estimated 25% to 40% of inmates incarcerated in state prison settings are infected with hepatitis C. It is estimated that over one-third of jail and prison populations are infected with the Hepatitis C virus, yet there are few, if any, education, awareness, testing, or treatment programs for inmates. In 1996, California reported 55% of female offenders and 39% of male offenders entering the California Corrections system were Hepatitis C Virus positive. A recent Texas study showed 30% of incoming inmates infected. The State of Washington determined that 25% of offenders were Hepatitis C positive. They also cited liver disease associated with Hepatitis C to be the third leading cause of death in their state prisons. How and what would you do to help the local Jails and State Correctional Facilities deal with this crisis and medical treatment? 5. What proposals or suggestions do you have that would help the state better deal with the Hepatitis C and HIV/AIDS crisis? 6. Despite the very high infection rates for Military Veterans, Hepatitis C is not a presumed service connected disease. There were no universal precautions in place. Military personnel were exposed to jet gun injections, reused lancets and needles such as small pox, and cylinder type syringes. They were infected by blood through vaccines; transfusions, battlefield wounds and dental and medical procedures while technicians did not wear gloves. Hepatitis C transmission has been documented in renal dialysis settings by technicians that did not wear gloves. If elected, what would you do to assist Veterans who are positive for Hepatitis C? 7. Organ Alternative Treatments may be lifesaving (organs) or life enhancing (e.g. corneas, bones, bone marrow, heart valves, ligaments and skin). A perfect donor can save eight lives with the following organs: two kidneys, two lungs, liver (which can be sectioned into two), heart, and either pancreas or small intestine. At least fifty other patients can benefit from the donor’s tissue Alternative Treatments. Will you establish legislation permitting Presumed Consent for organ Alternative Treatments? 8. Medicaid is the single largest payer of Hepatitis C and HIV/AIDS care in the United States, providing regular medical care, including life-prolonging medications, to hundreds of thousands of low-income individuals living with either Virus. a. Do you support upholding Medicaid’s entitlement status and continuing federal matching funds for state Medicaid expenses, affirming the federal-state commitment to providing healthcare for the country’s poor and disabled? b. Would you support an Early Treatment for Hepatitis C Act, which would allow state Medicaid programs to cover economically eligible people living with Hepatitis C before the disease renders them totally work-impaired? c. With many of the Medicare and Medicaid cutbacks or reduction in benefits in order to reduce the cost of government, what would you do to change this status? 9. Comprehensive, science-based prevention strategies that include syringe exchange and access, street outreach, risk-reduction education, and counseling have proven effective in lowering annual infection rate for both Hepatitis C and HIV/AIDS. a. Do you support increased funding for comprehensive and science-based Hepatitis C and HIV/AIDS prevention strategies to reduce the spread of either infection? b. Given the overwhelming body of evidence demonstrating the efficacy of needle exchange as Hepatitis C prevention, would you support a needle exchange program as a strategy to reduce Hepatitis C Virus transmission among injection drug users, their partners, and children? 10. Welfare beneficiaries having any chronic health problem, pre-disabling conditions often face significant barriers to employment and self-support. Welfare reform initiatives at the federal, state, and local levels have resulted in dramatically increased sanction rates for these groups, leaving many without any income support, housing, or healthcare at all. a. Will you support new disability protections as part of Temporary Assistance for Needy Families reauthorization that would require a medically appropriate assessment of barriers to employment for beneficiaries with chronic, pre-disabling conditions, services, and accommodations to promote independence? b. Will you support a Hepatitis welfare sanction exemption that would allow participation in workfare, training, and other programs but protect Hepatitis C Virus-positive welfare beneficiaries from losing healthcare and other supports due to welfare sanctions? 11. The Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) protects people living with or suspected of having an infectious disease from discrimination by public or private employers, the government, and providers of public accommodations, telecommunications, and transportation within the state. Would you support strengthening the ADA regulations within the state to ensure equal opportunities for employment, healthcare, government services, and accommodations for Americans with disabilities, to include Hepatitis C? 12. For people living with Hepatitis C and HIV/AIDS, safe, affordable, and stable housing is a matter of life or death. Housing instability and homelessness are associated with increased risks for contracting either disease and can lead to poorer health outcomes, as people living with this illness often must adhere to complex medication regimens. What would you if elected to assist in this area? 13. Many States Workers’ Compensation Boards claim coverage for occupational exposure to an infectious disease. Because exposure and later infection is a difficult issue to prove—many times, employees in high-risk occupations are unable to prove such a claim. The question to ask this WC Board is not if there is coverage but rather how many claims have been awarded in the last 5, 10, or 20 years. The Center for Disease Control estimates that approximately 6,000 to 8,000 employees become infected annually and are not covered by any State Workers’ Compensation Insurance Plan. If elected, what would you do to amend the rules to allow coverage for infection? Thanks you for participating. We look forward to receiving your answers as soon as possible so we can release the information so that the voters will know of your position and commitment. Please return this questionnaire to: | ||
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