CAMERON WOLF
“TRANSCENDENTS”

Exhibition: July 17th through August 18th, 2010
Opening: Saturday JULY 17 - 7:00-9:00pm
Special Guest Performances!

http://www.sclorddesign.com/

Cameron Wolf has worked for many years in Asia as an advisor for the US Agency for International Development (USAID) in the field of prevention, care and treatment of HIV/AIDS. Besides that, he is a well known photographic artist, who has exhibited many times throughout the US including exhibits in Baltimore since 1992.

“Transcendents”, at S.C. Lord Design, is the first American showing of recent work taken in Bangkok over the past 3 years while Cameron Wolf served as Regional HIV/AIDS Technical Advisor which was shown last year in Bangkok in one of the most exciting art events of the year. It shows a sensitive and powerful journey through the life of the models he has chosen during his time there and challenges our identity and boundaries.

This exhibition, “Transcendents”, explores the bridge between perception and reality, filling the gap between art and spirituality. He looks deeply into the soul of his subjects, their will to survive and to find dignity and serenity in their lives - even against the norms of society.

The opening at S.C. Lord Design will feature the artist, Cameron Wolf, who will be in the Baltimore for the opening to discuss the work as well a few surprise guest artists/models from the exhibit. AIDS Action Baltimore, of which Cameron Wolf is a long-standing Board member, will benefit through sales from the exhibition.
But most important: Cameron Wolf’s photo art will make you explore your own transcendence.

S.C. Lord Design, 3000 chestnut avenue, the mill centre, studio #341, Baltimore, MD 21211 USA
410.961.4597

tuesday-friday 10am-5pm
saturdays 12pm-5pm
*evening appointments welcome

READ MORE HERE:

http://www.aidsmeds.com/articles/hiv_pap_copayment_2042_16390.shtml

FPC Patient co-pay information
FPC co-pay program chart

AIDS Action Baltimore is a prominent member of the Fair Pricing Coalition (FPC). The FPC, which was founded by the late Martin Delaney, is a national coalition of activists who work on HIV drug pricing issues and who help control drug costs, thereby insuring access for recipients of state AIDS Drug Assistance Programs (ADAPs), Medicare, and Medicaid, as well as those who are privately insured, underinsured and uninsured.

The FPC has been negotiating with all major HIV drug manufacturers to require them to institute patient co-pay programs. These new co-pay programs are a direct result of several years of intense work and negotiations between the FPC and representatives of the pharmaceutical industry.

Most, if not all, HIV pharmaceutical companies already provide some level of patient assistance to individuals who are unable to afford their HIV medications. Be sure to ask your health care provider or pharmacy to contact the manufacturer directly for updated details on a specific drug.

Most HIV drug companies have also recently instituted co-pay assistance programs, which may cover all or part of the drug co-pay for many privately-insured patients, up to a specified amount, and for a pre-determined period of time, for example, up to one year. Certain restrictions and eligibility requirements apply. For example Medicare and Medicaid patients are not eligible. Eligibility requirements may vary from program to program. Once eligibility is established, most companies will provide patients with a co-pay card which they can bring to your pharmacist or provide to your mail-order pharmacy when filling your prescription.

Jeff Berry, Editor of Positively Aware and member of the FPC states “In our current economic crisis and with the continued rising costs associated with health care, these new programs offer much-needed assistance to people who may have insurance but are being adversely affected by rising co-pays and premiums.”

There are also many other medications in addition to HIV antiviral drugs needed by people with HIV, such as prescriptions for high cholesterol or diabetes. To find patient assistance or drug co-pay programs for these and other types of drugs, visit http://www.needymeds.com.

Below is a brief description of currently available HIV co-pay programs prepared by Jeff Berry, along with information regarding the recently announced BMS program, which is scheduled to launch later this year. The Kaletra program is scheduled to launch sometime in March.

Abbott: Positive Partnership PLUS Card—In 2009, Abbott is launching a pilot program which will expand to the Positive Partnership PLUS Card. Includes 12 months of co-pay savings and covers Kaletra plus other ARVs, no income or co-pay eligibility criteria. Patients can save up to $50 toward their Kaletra co-pay, plus up to $100 of the cost of other HIV medications (up to $50 for each additional ARV with a limit of $100 total—must be part of a Kaletra regimen.) Visit http://www.kaletra.com for more information.

Gilead: Truvada Co-pay Assistance Program—Covers Truvada, Emtriva, and Viread. For high co-pays only kicks in above $50 and up to $200/month. If health care provider does not have the card, you can call toll-free 1-888-358-0398 and it will be mailed to you. Atripla is currently not part of this program.

GSK: MySupportCard—Card is valid for the amount of your actual out-of-pocket cost up to a maximum of $100 for each prescription. All HIV drugs (Combivir, Epivir, Epzicom, Lexiva, Retrovir, Trizivir, and Ziagen) are covered. Go to http://www.mysupportcard.com for more information and to print out the card.

Tibotec: Tibotec Therapeutics Patient Savings Program—Covers Prezista and Intelence. Saves up to 80% of the amount of your actual out-of-pocket cost up to $100 per drug, per month. Visit http://www.prezista.com/prezista/patient_assistance.html or call toll-free 1-866-961-7169. BMS recently announced that they will be launching a co-pay program sometime during the first half of 2009 which will include Reyataz and Sustiva; details will be provided as they become available.

Merck does not have a specific insurance co-pay assistance program, however they do have a patient assistance program for Isentress and Crixivan called “Support.” Those needing co-pay assistance for Crixivan or Isentress should use the “Support” program.

Call 1-800-850-3430, or visit http://www.isentress.com, click on the site map, and then click “Support.” Pfizer does not offer co-pay assistance for HIV medications, however, they do provide reimbursement assistance, appeals assistance, and patient assistance for Selzentry, Viracept and Rescriptor, and also offer information on obtaining assistance with tropism testing. Call the Pfizer RSVP program at 1-888-327-RSVP (7787) M–F, 9:00 am – 8:00 pm Eastern Time; fax 1-888-773-0121, or write to Pfizer RSVP, PO Box 220574, Charlotte, NC. 28222-0574. For assistance with all other Pfizer medicines, call Pfizer Helpful Answers (PHA) at 1-866-706-2400, or visit http://www.pfizerhelpfulanswers.com.

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November, 2009

Dear Friends:

AIDS Action Baltimore (AAB) has been providing essential services to people with HIV/AIDS since 1987. We know times are tough, but as we approach our 25th year of service, we hope we can count on your continued support so that we can maintain our many HIV/AIDS programs. We desperately need your help to continue to provide our many essential services to the Baltimore HIV/AIDS community. We hope you will remember us and continue your loyal support. Please help us in any way you can. Your donations will enable us to continue our marvelous record of benevolence and compassion with only a rate of 9.86% overhead in 2008 with a staff of only two employees. The amount of work we have accomplished and the effect we have had on the war against AIDS is truly amazing!

Although HIV disease is becoming a manageable disease, here is why we still need your help now more than ever:

In 2007, Baltimore-Towson ranked fifth among metropolitan areas for new reports of AIDS cases. Maryland ranked fourth among states and territories. Statistics from 2006 indicate that 1 out of every 161 people in Maryland and 1 out of every 41 people in Baltimore City were living with HIV/AIDS. Six new cases are diagnosed in Maryland every day. That means one person is diagnosed with HIV/AIDS every four hours in Maryland and every eight hours in Baltimore. AAB has been instrumental in organizing the community in the effort to reform HIV testing so that more people who want to be tested can be tested without complicated paperwork requirements. Maryland recently enacted new legislation and regulations that streamline HIV testing requirements after three years of hard work on our part. This will help thwart the needless spreading of HIV. Once people know they are HIV positive, they are eight times less likely to practice risky behavior. People also need to know they are HIV positive so that they can take advantage of all the new treatments AAB is helping to make available. Like all diseases, the sooner you can treat HIV, the better chance you have. AAB continues to work with the new State Infectious Disease Administration to ensure that HIV testing is routinely offered to people in our metropolitan area.

Federal money has been steadily decreasing while the rate of HIV cases in Baltimore is still raging. Because federal dollars are shrinking, we need your help more than ever so that we can continue the fight to save our community from the devastation of HIV disease. AAB was instrumental in organizing the community during the recent Ryan White Reauthorization process in Congress. AAB worked with Federal AIDS Policy Partnership and other local advocates to ensure that the $65,000,000 in federal funding will continue to flow into Maryland. Maryland was in real danger of losing over half of its Ryan White funding because of the way it reported HIV cases. We are now in compliance with federal requirements and will have the requisite reporting system when Reauthorization process again occurs.

AAB continues to provide financial assistance to many needy people with HIV/AIDS. AAB has provided such support to hundreds of people over the past year alone. Since 1987, AAB has provided over $2,315,000 in assistance to people with HIV/AIDS and their families in our community for items such as rent, utilities and life-saving prescription drugs. We firmly believe we must continue our invaluable financial assistance programs. These programs provide a safety net to people with HIV/AIDS experiencing an emergency financial crisis.

AAB is committed to continuing our commitment to national research advocacy for safe new dugs and services. AAB has been instrumental in the formation of the Drug Development Committee of the AIDS Activist Coalition, a national organization that interacts with the pharmaceutical industry, pressuring companies to study drugs expeditiously and ethically and to include the HIV community in all aspects of research development. AAB is also working with national coalitions like the Federal AIDS Policy Partnership and Hepatitis C Activists United, as well as the newly formed Maryland Hepatitis Coalition to obtain new money and services for people with HCV and people coinfected with HIV and Hepatitis C (HCV). HCV is a huge problem in the Baltimore metropolitan area. For example, as many as 75% of people treated for HIV at the Johns Hopkins Hospital may also be coinfected with HCV. People that are coinfected with HIV and HCV are at much greater risk for sickness and death. Recent studies also show that men who sleep with men are at a much greater risk than expected of contracting HCV through unprotected sex.


Our work affects all who are touched by HIV/AIDS since sooner or later all people with this disease will need new drugs to add to their drug cocktails because the old drugs are no longer working or are causing life-threatening side effects. Resistance to drug therapies is a constant problem in the fight against AIDS. We are working with all HIV drug companies to ensure that their new drug pipelines remain robust. AAB continues to work with companies on their Community Advisory Boards to uncover the best way to use exciting new HIV drugs. For example, AAB is working with the FDA and a number of drug companies to implement a new expanded access program that will include three experimental drugs for people who have no other drug options. The hope is that three new drugs will help save the lives of people who have no other drug cocktail options. We also continue to work with drug companies to change the standard of care by replacing more toxic drugs used in current cocktails with more effective and better tolerated drugs.

AAB also works with the national Fair Pricing Coalition (FPC) to pressure “big pharma” into pricing AIDS drugs reasonably after FDA approval, to cap ongoing drug prices for federal and state agencies and AIDS Drug Assistance Programs and to initiate co-pay programs for patients. AAB and the FPC are now negotiating with all HIV drug manufacturers to ensure they initiate patient co-pay programs. At this juncture, every major HIV drug company has agreed to a co-pay program that will reimburse people with private insurance for their co-pay costs. But we still have a lot of work to do as some companies are offering much better programs than others. Our work directly affects the people of Maryland who have ever increasing co-pays as a condition of their insurance coverage. Our work is way ahead of the curve. This type of advocacy does not happen in any other disease advocacy community.

AAB also sponsors two HIV prevention programs. The RISE Program, (Rewriting Inner Scripts) is a one and a half day facilitated discussion retreat, promoting self-learning in a positive, affirming peer group environment. RISE creates a safe and comfortable space for men who love men to explore and promote self-esteem and prevent HIV transmission. The TEA TIME program (Transpeople Empowerment in Action) is an HIV prevention program for high risk transgender people. Its purpose is to provide HIV transmission information to transgender women in order to prevent HIV infection.

We are also trying to help ourselves by hosting “Cocktails at Tyrconnell” on December 6, 2009. We are very excited to be hosting another great event at Tyrconnell, the fabulous mansion that played host to so many wonderful spring events for AAB. For more information, call AAB at 410-837-2437 or check out our web site at http://aidsactionbaltimore.org. Space is limited to 150 people.

Please help us to continue our emergency financial assistance programs and our vital local and national advocacy. We greatly appreciate your continued support in these tough economic times. Thank you in advance for your contribution and for your past generosity. We know you are called on to make many charitable donations. Your donation will help us to save lives. We are forever grateful for your trust and loyal support. Remember, now more than ever, without people like you, there would be no AIDS Action Baltimore!

Sincerely,

Lynda Dee & the AAB Board
Merle McCann, M.D., Chair
Jake Boone, III
Michael Aquino
Greg Baranoski
Gilbert Morrisette
Thomas Holden
William Smith
Ted Pearson
Cameron Wolf, Ph.D., M.P.H.