On Tuesday, the Congressional House Oversight Committee held a Field Hearing at Johns Hopkins Hospital. I was invited to testify on Baltimore City’s work in combatting the opioid epidemic. Other witnesses included Governor Chris Christie (Chair of the President’s Commission on Combating Drug Addiction and the Opioid Crisis) and ONDCP Acting Director Richard Baum. Mayor Pugh and Governor Hogan gave remarks as well (the link to the full event is here).

Baltimore has done a lot with limited resources. In my testimony, I discussed Baltimore’s aggressive, three-pillar approach to combatting this epidemic: Save lives with naloxone, expand access to on-demand addiction treatment, and reduce stigma and prevent addiction. I also addressed four things the President’s Commission should have included in their recommendations: Substantial, additional federal funding; health insurance expansion; guaranteed access to treatment for addition; and evidence-based harm reduction practices, including needle exchange programs. Treating addiction as a crime is unscientific, inhumane, and ineffective. In order to save lives, we must also address the stigma surrounding addiction.

Today is World AIDS Day. While the fight against the stigma surrounding HIV/AIDS continues, much progress has been made in the last several years. In Baltimore, we’ve expanded access to innovative, life-saving care through increasing access to PrEP. We also employ peer navigators – “credible messengers” – to assist those most vulnerable to HIV and to reduce the disparities that African-American communities continue to face in our City. Our I’MPACT campaign has put unprecedented resources into reducing infection among our MSM and transgender residents. In recognition of these efforts, Baltimore was asked to join the Fast-Track Cities Initiative, a world-wide declaration to end the HIV/AIDS epidemic.

On World AIDS Day, I call on all of us to get tested and encourage our friends and families to get tested as well. We cannot afford to lose the next generation to this potentially deadly, but preventable disease. We must also remember to spread the word that “Undetectable equals Untransmittable” (U=U). Together, we can fight the stigma and misconceptions that harm those living with HIV/AIDS.

Sincerely,

Leana Wen, M.D., M.Sc.

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