Imagine if we told you there was a plan to destroy the BC AIDS movement.

One that would end access to many AIDS services you currently receive and gut the Provincial AIDS Strategy. A scheme to take away this magazine from nearly 50% of the HIV+ people who get it and force the claw-back of CHF benefits from HIV+ people outside of Vancouver. And eliminate your right to choose where, and from whom, you get treatment information, advocacy, or AIDS services.

Well, we’re sad to say this is not a fantasy. You are not waking up from a nightmare—rather, you are about to experience the "regionalization" of AIDS. That’s the fancy word being tossed around to describe a scheme to hack apart all funding for BC AIDS groups. You may be surprised to learn that the driving force behind this plan is the HIV/AIDS Division of the provincial health ministry.

Here’s what they want to do. Right now all money for AIDS groups is in one spot, namely the HIV/AIDS Division. Groups use this money to provide services to you—some use it locally and others use it across the whole province. The Division wants to carve up this money into several small pieces and dole it out to local health boards across BC. So you may be thinking "so what?" or "who cares?"

We think there are four reasons you should be concerned. First, regionalization will take away your right to choose the AIDS services you want because (whether you like it or not) you will only be able to get those services from AIDS groups funded in your health region. Second, AIDS groups like BCPWA will not be able to offer services like this magazine, for example, or treatment information, or even advocacy services outside of a local region. Third, your ability to be part of a provincial group will be eliminated because no funding will exist for a province-wide group. Finally, no guarantees exist that the money for AIDS services will be maintained after it is passed along to health boards. Your local health board (do you know who they are?) may decide to spend it all on something they deem is a more urgent priority.

So why would the HIV/AIDS Division be pushing such a flawed plan? They argue it will bring services "closer to home," that AIDS services you access now will be available in your local area. It sounds good on the surface. But, we believe the reality will be bad for HIV+ people. Look at what happened with psychiatric hospitals—there were supposed to be all these home-care services set up to accommodate discharged patients. Where are they? No where. And what happened to many of the people tossed out on the street? Well, a good number are now BCPWA members: dually diagnosed, with a mental health condition and HIV disease. So, we suggest that there is no reason to believe that AIDS services you loose because of regionalization will be replaced later.

We believe the real motive behind this bad plan is simple: the HIV/AIDS Division is tired of being held accountable for their decisions. They want to wash their hands of the responsibility of dealing with AIDS and, in particular, groups run by HIV+ people. That’s the most twisted part of the scheme: they’ll get off the hook if you don’t like what’s going on! They’ll just say, "Sorry, but that’s up to your Regional Health Board." And, even worse, for rural PWAs there will be no provincial AIDS group left to help you out.

For many years the AIDS movement worked hard to create a Provincial AIDS Strategy for BC. And, just last year, the AIDS community reached agreement on a province-wide strategy. We believe the Provincial AIDS Strategy would be decimated by the regionalization scheme. BC will, in effect, be left with a mish-mash of conflicting regional AIDS strategies and different services depending on where you live.

So what can you do? We suggest you call the Minister of Health and tell her what you think about the HIV/AIDS Division’s regionalization plan. We’ll be doing our best to get this plan nixed. So that you can continue to choose the services you want, share treatment information, and take collective action to survive.