Testimony before the Senate Health and
Human Services Budget Division

by Lorraine Teel, MAP executive director

on Senate Bill SF 3487
HIV information and referral service appropriation

authored by Sen. Scott Dibble (D-MPLS)

co-authored by Sens. Cohen; Berglin; Koering; Higgins

March 30, 2006

Good morning. My name is Lorraine Teel and I am the Executive Director of the Minnesota AIDS Project. Since it's beginnings in 1983, the MN AIDS Project has been the one call anyone in the state can make when they are concerned about HIV. Early in its development, MAP established an AIDSLine to address those concerns. Whether a call comes from a concerned parent, an adult unsure of what does and doesn't constitute risk, Minnesotans have come to rely on the AIDSLine as their virtual "911 for AIDS". I deliberately chose to use the 911 metaphor rather than 411. Yes, the AIDSLine does answer general questions about HIV for the public — the 411 if you will, but more importantly the AIDSLine serves as that 911 service Minnesotans expect when they have experienced an unsafe sexual contact, don't know the difference between all the various types of HIV tests available or aren't sure how to talk to their partner, their children or their friends about HIV risk.

These calls come from every corner of the state. These callers are often too nervous, too embarrassed and too fearful to seek out help from their medical provider. Perhaps they've tried surfing the web only to find contradictory information or advice. And perhaps most troubling, many of our callers have contacted the national AIDS hotline only to receive conflicting information or information they sense to not be accurate. An internationally based company that also processes all the Medicare billings and manages student loan repayments now manages the national AIDS hotline. With such a widely based portfolio is it any wonder that when someone from Brainerd calls about an HIV test and where he might find an appropriate test site there is little information on the other end?

The MAP AIDSLine maintains the most current and up-to-date resource guide on HIV and HIV-related services anywhere in the State. When Paulette Korsmo's son Brent was unclear about his HIV risk and didn't know where to turn he called the MAP AIDSLine. They helped him assess his risk, helped him access testing and when it turned out he was HIV-positive, connected him to care. Paulette contacted us and told us, and I quote, "I know how much the MAP AIDSLine helped Brent. Without being able to make that call, Brent may not have survived." There are thousands of other stories I can tell you just like this Willmar family's.

Finally, let me counter what perhaps you'll hear about the MAP AIDSline. We are much more than a "hotline". The MAP AIDSLine is available to do more than provide basic information. We are there for individuals in crisis, those who have nowhere else to turn, and yes those at greatest risk for HIV. We are the ones that married men engaging in high-risk behavior outside of their marriage turn to for information. We are the ones that the highly closeted gay African turns to for life-saving guidance about his level of risk. The MAP AIDSLine is there to answer sexual risk questions for the young paraplegic man with no other site to turn to with his specific questions about behavioral risk.

With more Minnesotans living with HIV than ever before, the need for the MAP AIDSline is even greater. Without this most basic service, this lifeline to care and this very backbone of the HIV continuum in the State, I am afraid that in the future we will only have to recreate this vital service if it is eliminated. HIV risk is not going away — it is greater than ever and the MAP AIDSline stands ready to meet that challenge.

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