The 2019 Walk to End HIV – File Photo: Ward Morrison
“It’s been harder to raise money, and I think that this is happening with a lot of the event-based walks across the country — we’ve just seen different levels of participation,” says Naseema Shafi, president and CEO of Whitman-Walker Health, which is seeking broader community support for its chief fundraiser, the Walk & 5K to End HIV.
The annual event, during which participants traverse a 5-kilometer course near Whitman-Walker’s Southeast D.C. location, raises money for the health center’s HIV research, testing and prevention services, and care for people living with HIV. Organizers hope to raise more than $400,000 this year but have collected only $86,000 so far, according to the event’s website.
“There’s been a shift in how people think about events like this, so it isn’t like it used to be,” Shafi says.
Although HIV stigma persists, advances in antiretroviral therapy have made the virus a manageable chronic condition for many people — a far cry from the early years of the AIDS epidemic, when an HIV diagnosis was often considered a “death sentence.”
“I think we are really fortunate to be in a place where we have such effective treatment and prevention, but I also think that has reduced the urgency around the fundraising,” Shafi says. She notes that new HIV diagnoses remain high, particularly among younger people, who may not have received comprehensive sex education or may be unaware of the threat the virus still poses and how to prevent its transmission.
“We still see new diagnoses in younger folks,” she says. “You can get so much information, but it’s all fragmented, so it’s hard to get a clear message across and help people understand that this is still a really important issue.”
Whitman-Walker has been promoting the walk and amplifying its message about HIV to attract more participants and donations, including individual gifts, per-kilometer pledges, and corporate sponsorships.
Most crucially, Shafi warns that Whitman-Walker could lose federal funding under changes introduced by the Trump administration. The health center is likely to lose one grant from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention as the federal government ends $46 million in direct funding for 96 community-based organizations providing HIV prevention services.
Going forward, that HIV prevention money will be directed to states and other jurisdictions, which may distribute it to nonprofit organizations at their discretion. Shafi says the District has made no guarantees, leaving Whitman-Walker to compete through the grant application process to replace the lost funding. D.C.’s looming budget problems raise further questions about whether any money will be available, even at reduced levels.
“We serve a lot of people with that grant,” she says. “It’s just been like this for the past year-and-a-half, where it’s been really unstable. But we’ve got to help people understand that.”
Whitman-Walker holds other fundraisers throughout the year, including its annual gala, and occasionally partners with local businesses or community groups on smaller events. But the Walk to End HIV typically generates the largest share of the money raised by the health center each year.
Money raised through the Walk & 5K to End HIV will support Whitman-Walker’s research arm, PrEP clinic, and SMART Clinic. The research arm is conducting more than 40 active studies involving more than 2,500 participants, including studies of long-acting injectable medications. The PrEP clinic offers HIV prevention and treatment services, while the SMART Clinic provides more than 3,000 free HIV tests each year, helping people learn their status and pursue appropriate prevention or treatment.
Whitman-Walker has booked local go-go group The Experience Band & Show to perform after the walk and 5K race. Other activities at the Roller Skating Pavilion will include DJ sets, remarks and testimonials about the impact of Whitman-Walker’s work, and opportunities for attendees to skate.
Organizers are also considering inviting local food trucks and other vendors to the park, although those plans have not been confirmed, Shafi says.
“Our largest attended walk was about 25,000 people, and we raised over $2 million that year,” Shafi says. “And those were in the years when this event served as a rallying cry and represented a very different moment than the one we’re in now. We’re grateful not to be in that type of a dire situation anymore, and yet I still long for opportunities to be in community with people who care about social justice, public health, and queer rights. And so we invite anyone and everyone who’s interested in those causes to join us.”
The 40th Annual Walk & 5K to End HIV will take place from 7:30 to 11 a.m. on Saturday, Sept. 19, at the Roller Skating Pavilion at Anacostia Park, 1500 Anacostia Dr. SE, in Washington, D.C. Free on-site parking is available. Registration and T-shirt pickup begin at 7:30 a.m. The 5-kilometer run starts at 8:45 a.m., followed by the walk at 8:50 a.m. Those unable to attend in person can still donate directly through Whitman-Walker’s website. For more information, visit walktoendhiv.org.
Officially, this year’s 26th International AIDS Conference, held July 26-31 in Rio de Janeiro, advanced a clear and timely theme: “Rethink. Rebuild. Rise.” A community well-versed in resilience would respond to devastating losses in funding and political support with strategies for rising above all obstacles and ending HIV/AIDS.
Yet, over the course of the week, as thousands of scientists, researchers, healthcare providers, advocates, administrators, journalists, community leaders, and people living with HIV attended more than 150 sessions, a new rallying cry emerged around the sprawling Riocentro Convention Center: “Innovation without access is injustice.”
Canada will lift restrictions that have prevented some gay and bisexual men from donating sperm by eliminating questions about recent anal sex from its screening process.
Health Canada, the federal department responsible for national health policy, said that beginning this fall, potential sperm donors will no longer be asked whether they have recently had anal sex with a new partner or multiple partners. Instead, all donors will be rigorously tested for infectious diseases, including HIV and hepatitis B and C.
Supporters of the change argue that asking whether a donor has engaged in anal sex does not accurately measure risk because it fails to account for condom use or preventive medications such as pre-exposure prophylaxis, or PrEP. The screening questions also did not distinguish between donors with new or multiple partners and those in monogamous relationships with HIV-negative partners.
One Million Moms is incensed over a campaign encouraging people to learn about injectable PrEP, a long-acting form of medication to prevent transmission of HIV.
The conservative group claims that a ViiV Healthcare television ad promoting injectable PrEP and featuring RuPaul's Drag Race judge Michelle Visage aired on TV Land, a Paramount-affiliated network that typically broadcasts decades-old sitcoms.
OMM is outraged that an ad promoting ViiV Healthcare's "PrEP Wisdom" campaign aired on a channel "known for providing nostalgic, wholesome, and familiar comedy shows without the need for edgy programming." The group claims that the campaign "primarily targets individuals at risk of HIV, including members of the LGBTQ community," whom it associates with extramarital sex.
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