BP MARKOWITZ STATEMENT ON CENTRALIZATION OF

HIV/AIDS SERVICE DELIVERY

“I join B rooklyn ites and our HIV/AIDS service providers in opposing the centralization of the delivery of HIV/AIDS services that can be a fundamental matter of life and death. Brooklyn has the dubious distinction of being the epicenter of the HIV/AIDS crisis in New York City, including among the highest rates of infection in all of America.

AIDS m ay not be the top priority in some U.S. communities b ut in Brooklyn neighborhoods like Bedford-Stuyvesant, Brownsville, Bushwick, and East New York, it is at the top of our health agenda.

At a time when resources at every level of government should be increased and streamlined to support treatment, counseling, advocacy, and legal assistance, centralizing the delivery of these vital services makes them less accessible to t he very people who need them most. I urge the Mayor and the City Council to empower community-based providers in Brooklyn and every borough to serve those in need in the most efficient and logical manner.”