For Immediate Release

Media Contact: Justin Burke - 213.201.1525

EMAIL:jburke@apla.org

AIDS PROJECT LOS ANGELES TO PARTICIPATE IN CONGRESSIONAL HISPANIC CAUCUS BRIEFING MARCH 7 IN WASHINGTON

Daniel C. Montoya, APLA Director of Government Affairs, to Represent Agency

Los Angeles, February 26, 2002 -- Daniel C. Montoya, AIDS Project Los Angeles (APLA) Director of Government Affairs, will participate in a Congressional Hispanic Caucus briefing on the impact of AIDS in the Latino community. Co-sponsored by the Kaiser Family Foundation, the briefing is scheduled for March 7 in Washington.

Mr. Montoya, former executive director of the President’s Advisory Council on HIV/AIDS during the Clinton-Gore Administration, will discuss HIV/AIDS policy and advocacy issues in the current political climate.

“The U. S. Latino population is disproportionately affected by HIV/AIDS,” Mr. Montoya said. “Nationally, the rate of new AIDS cases among Latinos is four times the rate among Caucasians. Beginning in 1997, Latinos have emerged as the largest group among newly diagnosed AIDS cases.”

“With more and more people living with AIDS, the Latino community and the country as a whole cannot afford the Bush Administration’s proposal to flat-fund the Ryan White CARE Act in 2003,” added Montoya, referring to the main funding source for AIDS treatment and services in the U.S. “We need bold leadership at every level of government and significant increases in federal AIDS spending, especially for education and prevention.”

Other participants in the briefing include Ingrid M. Durán, Executive Director, Congressional Hispanic Caucus Institute; Claude Allen, Deputy Secretary for the Department of Health and Human Services; Jennifer Kates, MPA, MA, Senior Program Officer, Kaiser Family Foundation; and Charlene Doria-Ortiz, Executive Director, Center for Health Policy Development.

The briefing is part of a series of bi-partisan Capitol Hill Briefings on HIV/AIDS presented by the Kaiser Family Foundation with Senators James Jeffords (I-VT), Orrin Hatch (R-UT), Edward Kennedy (D-MA) and Representatives Michael Bilirakis (R-FL), Nancy Pelosi (D-CA), and Henry Waxman (D-CA).

AIDS Project Los Angeles advocates on local, state, and national levels for fair and effective HIV and AIDS policy. APLA provides direct services each year to more than 10,000 men, women and children living with HIV and AIDS in Los Angeles County. Services include a food bank, professional dental care, housing assistance, child care, transportation, mental health counseling, case management, home health care and Adult and Child Buddy support. APLA also provides extensive treatment and prevention education.

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