For Immediate Release
Media Contact:
Justin Burke - 213.201.1525
AIDS PROJECT LOS ANGELES LAUDS COUNTY SUPERVISORS
FOR MAINTAINING CRITICAL HIV/AIDS SERVICES
Los Angeles, Calif., June 26, 2006– AIDS Project Los Angeles (APLA) today praised the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors for approving a $2.2 million funding allocation to vital HIV/AIDS programs.
“The Board’s decision today enables us to continue providing critical care and treatment to those who need it most,” said Craig E. Thompson, APLA’s executive director.
Earlier this year, the Los Angeles County Office of AIDS Programs and Policy (OAPP) informed local providers that funding for HIV/AIDS services would be cut due to a $1.8 million reduction in the County’s Ryan White CARE Act award for 2006-07 and a $300,000 cut in Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) funding.
In May, after meeting with APLA and other advocates, The Board of Supervisors instructed the Department of Health Services to identify funds to sustain current levels of HIV/AIDS prevention and treatment services until the end of the funding year, February 2007.
Last week, the County’s Chief Administrative Office (CAO) reported that DHS had identified only $600,000 in savings to offset the cuts and recommended that the Supervisors allocate $2.2 million from the County’s Provisional Financing Uses Budget for HIV/AIDS programs.
“This year’s cut to L.A.’s CARE Act award is a wake-up call,” Thompson said. “With four years of flat-funding to HIV/AIDS programs, we must now closely consider how every HIV/AIDS dollar is spent.”
AIDS Project Los Angeles, one of the largest non-profit AIDS service organizations in the United States, provides bilingual direct services, prevention education and leadership on HIV/AIDS-related policy and legislation. Founded by four friends in 1982, APLA is a community-based, volunteer-supported organization with local, national and global reach. For more information, visit www.apla.org.
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