For Immediate Release
Media Contact:
Justin Burke - 213.201.1525
EMAIL:jburke@apla.org
AIDS PROJECT LOS ANGELES REACTS TO PROPOSED BUSH BUDGET
February 2, 2004, Los Angeles, CA -- AIDS Project Los Angeles today warned that inadequate funding for domestic AIDS in the President’s 2005 proposed budget released today imperils progress in the country’s fight against the epidemic and puts the health and lives of people with HIV at risk.
The budget flat funds most domestic AIDS programs, including the Ryan White CARE Act and AIDS housing programs, as well as research at the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) in Atlanta. It includes an inadequate $35 million increase for the AIDS Drug Assistance Program (ADAP) – when estimated need is $214 million – and a small increase in funding for the National Institutes of Health.
“The Administration is scaling back on domestic AIDS funding just as the epidemic may be showing signs of resurgence,” said APLA Executive Director Craig E. Thompson. “We understand the enormous demands on this budget, especially for increases in funding for national security. But protecting the country against AIDS is also part of national security.”
Over 700 people in the United States are currently on wait lists to get life-saving medications through ADAP. California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger has proposed capping enrollment in the state’s cash-strapped ADAP as of January 2004. ADAP provides drug treatment to low-income people living with HIV/AIDS with inadequate or no health insurance. National reports indicate that seven people have already died while on ADAP wait lists.
“Last month at the Special Summit of the Americas, the President signed onto an agreement to provide AIDS drug treatment to every person living with HIV in the hemisphere who needs it,” Thompson continued. “What happened to that pledge? There are nearly one million Americans living with HIV/AIDS. Hundreds can’t get the drugs they need now. There will be thousands more if we don’t find money for these programs. People with HIV are going to get sick and die waiting to get the drugs they need.”
AIDS Project Los Angeles, one of the nation’s largest AIDS service organizations, provides direct services to more than 10,000 men, women and children living with HIV or AIDS in Los Angeles County each year. Services include prevention education, food banks and nutrition education, professional dental care, housing assistance, transportation, mental health counseling, case management and home health care. APLA is a leader in the provision of bilingual HIV treatment information, in print and on the Internet, and advocates for effective AIDS-related policies and legislation on the local, state and federal level. For more information, please visit www.apla.org.
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