tag@treatmentactiongroup.org
Science-Based Activism to End Epidemics, from AIDS to COVID-19

March 25, 2020

We hope you’re staying safe and sanitized during this difficult time!

Here at TAG, we’re fortunate to be able to safely work from home, and advance the fight against HIV, tuberculosis, and hepatitis C — and now against COVID-19.

As we fight back against horrors of political indifference, inaction, and injustice reminiscent of the early AIDS response, TAG’s scientific expertise and relationships are crucial. As this recent Washington Post story notes, when meeting with U.S. National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) Director Dr. Tony Fauci, HIV activists “always brought along Mark Harrington, an ACT UP member who would later win a MacArthur ‘genius grant,’ because he could press Fauci on the science.”

Our evidence-based foundation, and our legacy working with NIAID, and myriad other U.S. and global institutions and community partners, make TAG uniquely poised to fight back against COVID-19.

Here are the ways we’re fighting back against this new epidemic:

  • TAG has over three decades of experience fighting pandemics. We know what’s needed, and we’re working with our networks and allies to make a difference.
  • TAG is fully mobilizing with our community, scientific, and public health allies and is working to protect all New Yorkers – and everyone else – from the COVID-19 outbreak itself and from its economic and social consequences.
  • We’re co-facilitating the COVID Working Group which brings together activist and scientific expertise to strategize on action steps through the ever-changing situation.
  • We’ve catalyzed action by City and State leaders and public health officials.
  • We’re working through our Federal connections to articulate and respond to the needs of health workers and communities.
  • We’re developing new resources on the pipeline of potential prevention, treatment, and diagnostics in development to respond to SARS-CoV-2/COVID-19.

Photo: TAG demands more strategic AIDS research at the NIH; Amsterdam Intl. AIDS Conference, 1992

We’re putting TAG’s over 30 years of expertise fully into this fight. We are so grateful that you’re part of the TAG family, and will keep you posted about critical developments.

In the meantime, please take care of yourselves, your colleagues, your loved ones, and your community.

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