JESSE MILAN: I’ve been involved in the fight against HIV since 1985—that was the year
that my late partner was diagnosed and died.
And so, for me, this entire epidemic is very, very personal; and personally, I’ve been
living with HIV for now 38 years.
And so, this epidemic has almost defined my life both personally and professionally.
LINDA H. SCRUGGS: I got involved at my diagnosis, November 21, 1990.
I was 13 weeks pregnant, and I was diagnosed with HIV.
So, I look at it that I immediately got involved … immediately sharing with my partner the same
day but then getting the information to start educating my family about the virus and not
just about me and the virus, about the virus that had come into our life—into our family.
DR. LAURA CHEEVER: When I first started in 1990, people had very short life span expected,
so the response to that was to really provide services to help people maintain their dignity
and die in dignity.
Early in the epidemic, the Ryan White Program was passed into law because of the huge stigma
around HIV and the fact that people had a hard time accessing care and treatment services
at that time.
ANDREA WEDDLE: The Ryan White HIV/AIDS Program has evolved over the years to meet the needs
of people living with HIV and to help the programs meet the needs … better meet the
needs, the changing needs, of people living with HIV over the years because it’s really
had a person-centered approach.
It’s been driven by the people who are in need of services and given clinics, programs,
localities, the ability to really tailor those services to fit the needs of the people in
their community who are affected by HIV.
JESSE MILAN: The Ryan White program has valued those people.
It’s encouraged their voices because, unlike any other health-focused program, it demands
and has demanded for decades that the voices of people living with HIV guide where the
services should go; and I think that that model has been tremendous and it’s one that
needs to be replicated in every health issue across America.
DEBORAH PARHAM HOPSON: The Ryan White Program changed throughout the years.
As the science advanced, the Program advanced and had to change.
Early in the epidemic, we didn’t have many medications.
For many years, we only had one, AZT.
And so, the program actually focused on providing care for people with HIV, helping them to
live and to die with dignity.
And then as more therapeutics became available as treatments improved, we were able to move
from just a care program to a more of a full program of care and treatment.
DR. LAURA CHEEVER: The Ryan White Program is really essential.
It’s one of the only medical programs in the country that integrates medical care and
essential support services, so someone diagnosed with HIV … we know that people that are
living at or below the poverty line often need many types of enabling services in order
to get into care and stay in care.
With Ryan White, that’s essential in HIV because people need to stay on their medications
and take them every day.
Going on and off medications can lead people to develop resistance to treatment.
JESSE MILAN: Thirty years ago, I was the first Ryan White Planning Council Chair for Philadelphia.
It’s hard to believe that that’s 30 years ago, but when I was asked to take on that
role, I could never have envisioned how important the Ryan White program would be, not just
for Philadelphia, but for the entire country.
LINDA H. SCRUGGS: The biggest impact the Ryan White Program had provided for people living
with HIV is real simple.
I am sitting here.
It’s 30 years later.
That… providing life-sustaining care, treatment, respect, information, education
—that really is the biggest thing.
The Ryan White Program has always made sure that community had voice in this engagement
of the epidemic from its inception until right now, 30 years later.