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| February 5th, 2007 Presidential Budget for HIV/AIDS 2008 AIDS Action Council Says President’s Budget for HIV/AIDS Fails to Meet Current and Projected Needs for the 1.2 Million People living with HIV in the U.S WASHINGTON, Feb. 5, 2007 – President Bush released his Fiscal Year (FY) 2008 federal budget today. AIDS Action staff attended the briefing on the Department of Health and Human Services portion of the budget presented by Secretary Mike Leavitt. This budget falls terribly short of meeting existing and scientifically projected needs to adequately respond to the HIV epidemic. Whether comparing the President’s budget proposal for FY 2008 to FY 2006 actual spending or to the Joint Resolution for FY 2007 that has passed the House of Representatives and is poised to be considered in the Senate this current FY 2008 proposal severely under-funds the Ryan White CARE Act (RWCA). The President’s budget asks for an increase in funding for the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention for HIV testing kits. As we noted last year when this same request was made, HIV prevention is much broader than HIV test kits. It is an important first step, but HIV prevention needs increased funding to include counseling, education, and other scientifically sound methods of prevention intervention strategies to begin to decrease the new infections of HIV below the annual rate of 40,000 new infections per year. “It is woefully duplicitous for the President to have signed The Ryan White Care Act into law in December and then fail to allocate sufficient funding to meet the growing need in our country,” said Rebecca Haag, Executive Director, AIDS Action Council. “It is equally insulting but more damaging than his failure to mention domestic HIV in his State of the Union address in January.” “We will continue to work diligently with the 110th Congress to make right this dismissive action that fails to fund resources to provide a continuum of prevention, care and treatment services, disregarding the needs of some of our country’s most marginalized communities,” she added. “We have said from the start, and it remains true today, that more money is needed; the needle is pointing in the wrong direction, and lives of people in this country are at stake.” AIDS Action commits to maintain its work with legislators to prioritize the needs of people living with HIV by making life-saving drugs, medical treatment, and essential support services available to all who are HIV infected, and to highlight the importance of HIV prevention. More than 250,000 people in the U.S. know they are infected with HIV but do not have access to HIV care, and an additional 250,000 – 300,000 people in the U.S. are infected with HIV but are unaware of their positive status. “The budget and inadequate funding affects people’s lives, not just line items. In Nashville and Middle Tennessee, under-funding of the CARE Act threatens to create a waiting list for life-saving medications and medical care, and that’s just the tip of the iceberg, both here and across the country,” said Joseph Interrante, CEO of Nashville Cares. “We’ve already experienced a 50% reduction in critical dental assistance available per client per year, along with a continuous waiting list of more than 50 individuals. Dental care is a critical component to healthcare, affecting an individual’s ability to prevent infections and to maintain good nutrition, both important to being as healthy as possible while living with HIV/AIDS,” he added. “As many as 1.2 million people are living with HIV/AIDS in the United States; we can best help them by making sure they receive quality care and treatment,” Haag added. “We must also ensure that the number of new infections decreases by adding resources for scientifically based HIV prevention programs,” said Haag. |