Lawmakers urged to support AIDS/HIV initiatives

<p align="justify">Supporters of people with AIDS and HIV descended on the State Capitol Wednesday to urge lawmakers to support initiatives and extra funding to fight the diseases.

<p align="justify">The advocates are seeking $2 million to expand voluntary HIV-testing services.

<p align="justify">They also want lawmakers to pass separate pieces of legislation that they say would prevent fatal drug overdoses and would provide health insurance to low-income Illinoisans, including thousands who have HIV or AIDS. The measures, Senate Bills 2155 and 1925, are awaiting a Senate floor vote.

<p align="justify">About 40,000 to 42,000 people in Illinois are living with HIV or AIDS, and one-fourth of them don't know it, said Henry, who serves on the board of the Minority AIDS Awareness Council.

<p align="justify">"The biggest problem with treating AIDS and prevention is the stigma," she said. "It's 100 percent eliminate-able."

<p align="justify">She and other advocates congregated in the Capitol rotunda for a rally, then dispersed to speak with individual lawmakers.

<p align="justify">Also at the rally was Christian Reedy of Springfield, who said he has been attending the annual HIV/AIDS Lobby Day since 2005. Reedy, who is deaf, has been HIV-positive for almost seven years.

<p align="justify">It's important to spend time advocating for people with AIDS and HIV, Reedy said.

<p align="justify">"The power really resides in the people," he said.

<p align="justify">During the rally, Rep. Greg Harris praised the crowd for making its demands known to lawmakers.

<p align="justify">"If you don't ask down here, you don't get," said Harris, a Chicago Democrat who is the legislature's only openly gay member.

<p align="justify">Sen. David Koehler, D-Peoria, told the crowd he intends to try again next year to get lawmakers to approve legislation that would implement a practice called "expedited partner therapy."

<p align="justify">Referred to as "EPT," it means treating the infected partner of someone with a sexually transmitted disease even when the partner has not been diagnosed through a medical exam.

<p align="justify">Last month, Koehler's bill on the subject stalled in a Senate committee. That bill would have targeted people who have chlamydia or gonorrhea.

<p align="justify">Adriana Colindres can be reached at (217) 782-6292 or adriana.colindres@sj-r.com.