Latest news with #Vivent
Yahoo
21-03-2025
- Health
- Yahoo
Reported plan to curtail federal funds for HIV prevention alarms provider
Vivent Health conducts tests for HIV and other sexually transmitted infections. Federal funds that cover the cost of those tests and other HIV prevention services are being considered for drastic reductions. (Photo courtesy of Vivent Health) Wisconsin stands to lose at least $1.2 million a year to help prevent the spread of HIV if the federal government follows through on reported plans to drastically cut HIV prevention. The Wall Street Journal reported this week that the administration of President Donald Trump was planning sharp reductions at the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and the Division of HIV Prevention housed there. The U.S. spends about $1.3 billion annually on HIV prevention. That includes just over $1.2 million that goes to the Wisconsin division of Vivent Health, a multistate nonprofit specializing in care for people who have HIV or are at risk of being infected. Vivent Health's federal HIV prevention grant comes through the Wisconsin Department of Health Services. A department spokesperson said the agency could not provide the total it receives each year in federal HIV prevention funds by the end of the day Thursday. At Vivent, the money has helped reach tens of thousands of people across the state to help them avoid infection with the human immunodeficiency virus, said Bill Keeton, Vivent's vice president and chief advocacy officer. The funds are used for outreach to people who are vulnerable for HIV, he said. They cover the costs of testing for HIV and other sexually transmitted infections. They also cover services to help people who are candidates for medication that can prevent HIV infection as well as medication after being exposed to the virus. 'We do thousands of tests a year throughout the state,' said Keeton. Vivent has 10 clinics around in Wisconsin and additional mobile clinics for outreach to people who use drugs. Drug use can heighten the risk of transmitting HIV, he said. In addition, HIV prevention funds cover condom distribution and other methods of harm reduction, Keeton said, along with education to help people learn how to use condoms properly and other ways to protect themselves from HIV infection. 'These are services and programs that are designed to reach out and provide education, testing and resources designed to prevent HIV from occurring,' Keeton said. 'These dollars that we get from the federal government comprise the lion's share of the resources we get to do this work.' In 2024, Vivent in Wisconsin provided 2,200 HIV tests, about half that number for Hepatitis C and nearly 1,900 for other primary sexually transmitted infections. The organization distributed 300,000 condoms and 2.7 million clean syringes for drug users. American taxpayers and health care consumers will bear the brunt of these shortsighted policy changes. – Bill Keeton, vice president and chief advocacy officer at Vivent Health Vivent assisted 369 people with navigating the decision to use pre-exposure prophylaxis, or PrEP, daily medication to ward off the HIV virus in a person who is not already infected. Vivent has 678 patients in Wisconsin using PrEP. The CDC has reported HIV infections have fallen by 12% nationally, from 36,300 in 2018 to 31,800 in 2022. Cutting off prevention funds could reverse that trend, Keeton said, and would be a setback to efforts to end HIV — an objective that has been embraced by the last three presidential administrations, including Trump's in his first term. 'New diagnoses will increase,' Keeton said. 'New transmissions will occur — unfortunately, that means people will take on $500,000 in lifetime health care costs managing their HIV.' People will get sick, deaths will increase along with the difficulty of managing chronic illness that would otherwise be avoidable, he said, along with increasing health costs. 'American taxpayers and health care consumers will bear the brunt of these shortsighted policy changes,' Keeton said. With continued support, however, those outcomes can be avoided. 'We have the tools, we have the science, we have the interventions that can work to end HIV,' he said. 'What we lack is the resources.' Keeton told the Wisconsin Examiner that Vivent and other providers of HIV-related care started getting word earlier this week that the HIV prevention division was 'getting a lot of attention' in the White House. He acknowledged that replacing the federal money would be a challenge given the $1 billion price tag it would carry nationally. Other organizations involved in HIV health care and advocacy are looking at mounting a court challenge if the Trump administration follows through on the proposal to cut the prevention programs. For now, however, Vivent's focus is on heading off the potential cuts. Keeton said the organization is advocating with members of Congress and encouraging them to 'weigh in with the administration' to keep prevention programs funded. SUBSCRIBE: GET THE MORNING HEADLINES DELIVERED TO YOUR INBOX
The Independent
13-02-2025
- The Independent
Teen recorded saying ‘Heil Hitler' and making racist slurs at golf tournament arrested for underage drinking
A teenager who was seen in a viral video making shocking racist comments is facing multiple charges after being subsequently arrested for trespassing while intoxicated at a golf club in Scottsdale, Arizona. Brandtbert J Brudenell, 19, was arrested at TPC Scottsdale just before 8pm on Thursday February 6 after being found wandering near the green's second hole when the course was closed, accor ding to Arizona Republic. Scottsdale Police said Brudenell had fled from the venue's security personnel prior to being apprehended by officers and was duly taken to Scottsdale Jail and booked on suspicion of criminal trespassing, refusing to provide his real name and underage alcohol consumption. They added that, although they were not aware of the fact at the time of the arrest, Brudenell is the same man who has been widely seen declaring 'Heil Hitler' and making racist slurs against Mexicans in a video that recently went viral on Instagram after reportedly being filmed at the WM Phoenix Open. The video, filmed by an unknown woman, features Brudenell (incorrectly) making a '1488' hand gesture – recognized by the Anti-Defamation League as a numerical code used by neo-Nazis and white supremacists – and declaring that 'border-hopping' immigrants should have their throats 'sliced' before making personal insults to the woman filming on her phone after being confronted about his comments. 'We were doing our own thing, and he approached us and started making comments about Mexican men, so we started recording,' a caption on the original video read, by way of explanation. Scottsdale Police spokesperson Sergeant Allison Sempsis said officers have addressed the video with Brudenell and have made contact with the woman who filmed it in order to better understand its context. The Phoenix Open has since said in a statement that the offender has been banned from its event and condemned his remarks, which it said were 'unacceptable and not representative of our fans, players, and organizers.' The Open said its management and sponsors 'have a zero-tolerance policy for hate speech in any form and have banned the individual from the premises and all future PGA TOUR events.' Phoenix-based home security company Vivent said it had dismissed Brudenell from his job with the firm, which he had held for less than three months, after completing an internal investigation inspired by the video, in which the subject can be seen wearing a baseball cap bearing its logo. 'This behavior is abhorrent and in no way reflects the values of our brand,' Vivent said in a statement of its own. Brudenell has meanwhile been made the subject of a Facebook parody account, brutally satirizing his sudden brush with notoriety. As Arizona Republic points out, the incident is the latest in a series of recent episodes in which emboldened individuals have been reprimanded for making overtly offensive gestures or statements in public. Clergyman Calvin Robinson, for one, lost his license as a priest with the Anglican Catholic Church following an appearance in Washington, D.C., in which he attempted to mimic the 'Nazi' salute Elon Musk made at an event celebrating Donald Trump 's inauguration as president last month. Supervisor Laura Smith, for another, was forced to resign from the Towamencin Township Board of Supervisors in Pennsylvania for likewise making a gesture similar to Musk's in another video that went viral. One of Musk's own employees at the Department of Government Efficiency, Marko Elez, also had to resign after a string of racist X posts were uncovered, only for the world's richest man to reinstate him.
