For Immediate Release
Media Contact:
Justin Burke -
213.201.1525
AIDS PROJECT LOS ANGELES COMMENDS GOVERNOR FOR FUNDING AIDS PROGRAMS
Savings to Drug Program Should Be Used to Stem Epidemic through Prevention
Los Angeles, Calif., January 12, 2007 – AIDS Project Los Angeles (APLA) today commended Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger for maintaining existing funding for the state’s HIV/AIDS programs in his proposed budget, released Wednesday, while urging the administration to use anticipated savings in some programs to increase overall HIV/AIDS funding.
“We are losing ground in the fight against AIDS,” said APLA Executive Director Craig E. Thompson. “At both the state and federal level, HIV/AIDS programs have been flat funded or worse for several years, forcing providers to meet ever-increasing demand for services with insufficient funds."
One major component of California’s HIV/AIDS programs, the $299 million AIDS Drug Assistance Program (ADAP), has regularly required annual state funding increases, sometimes over $20 million, to meet increased demand and rising drug prices. The ADAP program provides life saving HIV/AIDS drugs to some 31,000 low-income uninsured Californians living with HIV/AIDS each year.
This year, in part because of savings achieved through the new Medicare Part D drug benefit and efficiencies within the ADAP purchasing system, the program can be maintained at the same level of funding as last year.
“The California Office of AIDS should be praised for achieving these efficiencies in the ADAP program,” Thompson said. “The governor should use the anticipated savings to beef up prevention programs – which were cut several years ago – by funding innovative efforts to stem the epidemic in disproportionately impacted communities such as gay men and communities of color.”
The governor’s proposed budget also includes $2 million a year over the next three years to help local jurisdictions expedite California’s conversion to a names-based reporting system. California and 13 other jurisdictions nationwide adopted a names-based HIV reporting system last year, when the federal government refused to certify counts under the existing code-based reporting system.
“The funding for names reporting will help California gain a better understanding of the scope of the epidemic,” said Thompson, “while at the same time helping us secure federal dollars.”
APLA also expressed appreciation for the governor’s proposed $216.7 million to fund cost-of-living adjustments to Supplemental Security Income (SSI) for people with disabilities.
“Low-income Californians living with AIDS often have no choice but to prioritize one basic necessity over another due to low SSI/SSP payments,” Thompson said. “The cost of living increase of $40 a month can mean the difference between making the rent or being homeless.”
APLA praised the governor for proposing sweeping reforms to reduce the number of uninsured Californians and contain burgeoning health care costs. Thompson said the state “would continue to save health care dollars in the long run if HIV/AIDS funding were increased to keep pace with the epidemic.”
There are now more people than ever – some 60,000 in Los Angeles County alone – living with HIV/AIDS. AIDS mortality rates have been decreasing since the introduction of new and successful drug treatments in 1995, resulting in ever increasing numbers of people now living with the disease. Infection rates have remained stable at about 42,000 a year in the U.S., with dramatic increases in some populations, especially gay men and communities of color.
“We look forward to engaging the governor in conversations about new HIV/AIDS initiatives that will help California regain lost ground in the fight against AIDS,” Thompson said.
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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