Each spring, HIVMA and IDSA members head to Capitol Hill to meet with Congress on their respective Advocacy Days. These events allow constituents to engage with policymakers and directly influence policy decisions. Two recent participants, Audrey Lloyd, MD, from Alabama, and Lyle Yap-Separovich, DO, an HIVMA fellow from New York, answered questions from Science Speaks about how this year’s events gave them the opportunity to advocate for their patients, their communities, and IDSA’s and HIVMA’s policy priorities.
What was your one key takeaway from participating in IDSA’s Advocacy Day and the joint HIVMA/Ryan White Medical Providers Coalition Advocacy Day?
Dr. Lyle Yap-Separovich: One key takeaway was the importance of collaboration and partnership. At every event — from informal dinners to meetings with congressional staff — my mission to advocate for the health of patients was strengthened by the support of my friends and colleagues in HIVMA. Whether presenting public health data or engaging with congressional offices, I was far more effective because of the solidarity and expertise of my fellow advocates.
Dr. Audrey Lloyd: As a first-time advocate, my number one takeaway was that I can participate in advocacy. IDSA made it surprisingly easy. I was supported by people familiar with the advocacy process and knowledgeable about individual lawmakers and their offices. We spent time debriefing the night before, so I felt prepared to speak about how important funding infectious disease work is to people in my district.
Why is advocacy vital for ID/HIV health care professionals?
Dr. Yap-Separovich: Advocacy is essential to ID/HIV health care because it is rooted in the very nature of our profession. As physicians, we are responsible for educating our patients and ensuring they have access to the most effective, evidence-based treatments available. This care relies heavily on robust funding and scientific collaboration — especially through programs like NIH grants.
The infrastructure funded by NIH, including highly effective antiretrovirals and post-exposure prophylaxis, protects front-line workers — such as EMS, police and firefighters — from both Republican and Democratic households from HIV needle stick exposures. During Advocacy Day, I met with Republican offices that strongly support front-line workers. Advocacy allowed me to educate them about how NIH research protects their constituents and how continued investment could lead to an HIV vaccine that benefits all Americans.
Dr. Lloyd: We have a duty to care for our patients, and when so much of their care is linked to federal policies like Ryan White funding, that duty includes advocacy. We are subject matter experts and provide lawmakers with important, factual and desired information.
How have recent federal policies or funding changes affected the programs you work with, and how did you communicate the impact with lawmakers?
Dr. Yap-Separovich: There are two specific ways funding changes have affected or threaten to affect the clinics and hospitals where I work:
Due to the current political climate and rhetoric, some patients are afraid of losing access to HIV medications and have begun rationing their treatment. I’ve had to counsel them on the dangers of doing so — highlighting that inconsistent use of antiretrovirals can lead to HIV mutations, drug resistance and increased risk of transmission and illness.
My clinic currently provides Apretude through a specialty pharmacy affiliated with the AIDS Healthcare Foundation — funded by the Ryan White Program. If Ryan White funding is cut, our ability to offer Apretude to patients would be severely compromised.
Dr. Lloyd: Decreasing funding to the National Institutes of Health and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention means less funding to support nascent researchers in infectious diseases. The chance to improve my patients’ care through research was a large part of why I chose to continue my career in the Deep South. Without federal funding to support infectious diseases research and public health interventions, I worry that institutions in the Deep South will struggle to attract and retain providers and staff. I worry we will lose the infrastructure required to curb future infectious outbreaks of HIV, hepatitis C, sexually transmitted infections and drug-resistant organisms like C. auris.
What specific changes or support are you hoping to achieve through Advocacy Day, and why are these changes crucial for your community?
Dr. Yap-Separovich: My primary goal is to ensure continued and uninterrupted funding for Medicare, Medicaid and the Ryan White Program. At Jamaica Hospital Medical Center, approximately 80% of our patients rely on Medicare and Medicaid. Any disruption in these programs would immediately undermine our ability to provide safe, effective care to the community we serve in Jamaica, Queens, New York.
Dr. Lloyd: I am hoping to put a human face to infectious diseases for our lawmakers. I hope to help them to understand the importance of our work and the potential long-term implications of unskilled cost cutting. Rates of new HIV cases are climbing in the Deep South, and losing control of the HIV epidemic would have a disastrous price for my community.
Want to get involved in advocacy efforts to protect HIV care and prevention funding? There are several ways you can pitch in:
Join the Member Advocacy Program to learn how to get involved in IDSA’s and HIVMA’s advocacy efforts. Check out the IDSA/HIVMA Action Alert Center to write or call lawmakers. HIVMA also has a helpful guide for organizing in-district meetings with your elected officials. This is a great way to connect with lawmakers without traveling to Washington, D.C.
Photos:
Top left: Audrey Lloyd, MD, outside the office of Rep. Robert B. Aderholt (R-AL)
Middle right: From left, Ryan Separovich; Bill McColl of Collier Collective; Joseph S. Cervia, MD, MBA, FIDSA; and Lyle Yap-Separovich, DO, on Capitol Hill