Mayor Walt Maddox announced at the Tuscaloosa City Council meeting Tuesday that the city would recognize Dec. 1, 2024 as “World AIDS Day.”
“World AIDS Day unites people worldwide in the fight against HIV/AIDS, showing support for those living with HIV, honoring the lives of those who were lost and the recommitment of the ongoing efforts to end the HIV/AIDS epidemic,” Maddox said. “Millions remain impacted, with stigmatization, discrimination and limited access to healthcare still being critical challenges.”
Maddox encouraged all citizens to support those living with HIV/AIDS and honor the victims of the disease.
“HIV isn’t something you hear about as much in the news as you used to, but it’s still an issue that impacts many of our communities,” said Tim Dreyfus, an officer from Five Horizons Health Services, a HIV treatment and prevention center based in Tuscaloosa. “We’re really in an exciting stage with HIV treatment in prevention.”
“Within just a few months with one pill once a day they [patients] can reduce the level of virus in their body so low they can’t transmit it to partners.” Dreyfus said regarding HIV-prevention medications such as pre-exposure prophylaxis (PreP) medications, which recent medical breakthroughs have improved upon. “That means if we can stop right now and get everybody tested for HIV and get all of those folks who test positive connected to care, we would end new transmissions in just a few months.”
Maddox also commended the Tuscaloosa City Council on being reaffirmed for a AAA Credit Rating by Fitch Ratings last Thursday.
“There are very few cities across the nation that are able to achieve this,” Maddox said. “This is a reflection of a very engaged and financially conservative city council. We should all take great pride in this, ultimately it will save taxpayers millions of dollars, and is the reflection of the good work of so many.”
The AAA rating is the highest possible credit rating for cities in the United States. In a statement, Fitch Ratings said that the “financial resilience driven by the combination of its high revenue control assessment and high expenditure control assessment culminat[ed] in an ample budgetary flexibility assessment.”
Tuscaloosa managed to qualify for the AAA rating even with debt-fueling plans such as Elevate Tuscaloosa and the 10-Year Water and Sewer Plan, according to a memo from the city of Tuscaloosa. Fitch Ratings said that Tuscaloosa’s “manageable carrying costs and liabilities to governmental revenues” metric is classified in the strong percentile category.
