Contacting Us
Meet The CEO
At the 2012 Steve Chase Humanitarian Awards in February, I was delighted to report that the journal Science announced its 2011 Breakthrough of the Year – that people who begin taking the correct medications soon after being infected with HIV are 96% less likely to spread the virus to others!
Armed with this knowledge, equipped with the skill of our staff and volunteers, inspired by the strength of those we serve, and fueled by your support, D.A.P. is positioned to play a role in what we hope will be the final chapter of this devastating epidemic. Quite simply, if we can link everyone who has the virus to proper medication and medical care, we can stop the spread of HIV. Finally, once and for all ... in our lifetimes ... it seems possible that we can stop the spread of new infections of HIV.
Moving forward, it’s a two-step process for making that happen:
1. We need to make sure everyone who doesn’t know their HIV status gets tested – and continues to get tested at least once a year.
2. We need to make sure that everyone in our service area testing positive is linked to D.A.P., in order to receive appropriate medical care, access the right medications, and become 96% less likely to spread HIV.
The CDC estimates there are as many as 240,000 of the 1.2 million Americans living with the virus who don’t know they are infected. Of those, it’s estimated that there are 2,000 people living with HIV who don’t know it, right here in the Coachella Valley. That’s why we remain committed to offering free and confidential HIV testing, with more than two dozen sites locally right now. We will continue to grow that number as much as necessary to help everyone get tested.
Bringing those 2,000 HIV-infected people into care at Desert AIDS Project would almost double our current case load ... but it could mean the beginning of the end of AIDS in our community. If every community reacts by “thinking globally, acting locally” we will, ultimately, defeat AIDS worldwide.
Back in November, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said:
“Instead of falling behind year after year, we will, for the first time, get ahead of the pandemic. We will be on the path to an AIDS-free generation. That is the power of combination therapy.”
Clinton’s reference to “combination therapy” is to ART (Anti-Retroviral Therapy,) which has helped to transform HIV disease from a death sentence to a chronic condition for many in the U.S. However, there is still much left to be done, if we are to rid the world of HIV/AIDS once and for all.
You continued to show your commitment at the 18th Annual Steve Chase Humanitarian Awards as we raised more than $1.4 million (highlights on pages 12-13) for client services ... not including the amazing $1 million gift, establishing the Annette Bloch Cancer Care Center (pages 14-15) for those co-infected with HIV and cancer!!
Your support makes it possible for us to keep improving our standards of excellence ... so that we can finally, once and for all... stop the spread of HIV.
Until there’s a cure ...
David Brinkman, MBA
CEO
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