Homelessness, Mental Illness, Substance Abuse, and HIV: An Insidious Syndemic

Abstract

Mahatma Gandhi once said that the measure of a country’s greatness is in how it treats its least fortunate members. In his last public speech, Hubert Humphrey echoed the same sentiment when he said “…the moral test of government is how that government treats those who are in the dawn of life, the children; those who are in the twilight of life, the elderly; those who are in the shadows of life; the sick, the needy and the handicapped” (Remarks at the dedication of the Hubert H. Humphrey Building, November 1, 1977, Congressional Record, November 4, 1977, vol 123, p. 37287).