May 14, 2003

AIDS Action Executive Director Dr. Marsha Martin To Give Testimony on the HIV/AIDS Epidemic

(Washington, DC) AIDS Action Executive Director Dr. Marsha Martin will testify as a public witness today at a hearing of the House Committee on Appropriations, Subcommittee on Labor, Health and Human Services, Education and Related Agencies. The hearing is one of the first steps in the annual process of determining the level of federal funding that will be allocated by the committee for the programs and agencies under its jurisdiction. Based on the testimonies of Dr. Martin, other experts and stakeholders from the public, and members of Congress, subcommittee members will make recommendations regarding the most appropriate allocation of resources for fiscal year 2004, which begins October 1, 2003. The opportunity to speak at this hearing is of critical importance to the HIV/AIDS community because much of the funding for the federal response to the domestic HIV/AIDS epidemic falls under the jurisdiction of this subcommittee.

In the written version of her testimony, Dr. Martin points out the changing nature of HIV and the challenges faced by this country’s “increasingly overburdened and fragile system of HIV/AIDS care” to meet the needs of Americans living with HIV/AIDS. The U.S. system of care and community support services, she explains, “has evolved into little more than an annually appropriated ‘patchwork’ of programs and unreliable financing mechanisms originally created to care for people dying of AIDS, not living with HIV.”

Dr. Martin continues her testimony by explaining that the national response to HIV never included systematic development of a service-delivery infrastructure or institutionalization of quality medical care and community support for people impacted by HIV. Consequently, HIV/AIDS prevention education, clinical care, and services are an exception in the “paradigm of disease management.”

Dr. Martin acknowledges the difficult task of appropriating adequate funds for HIV/AIDS services in this time of budgetary constraints. Nevertheless, it is imperative to the health of this nation’s citizens and economy that Congress finds a way to increase funding for HIV/AIDS programs and services in general and the Ryan White CARE Act in particular. Additionally, Dr. Martin stresses, “It is vitally important that all planning related to HIV healthcare treatment, prevention services, housing, substance abuse treatment, and other services for HIV is matched with an analysis of inequities in the allocation of community resources.

AIDS Action Foundation strives to end the HIV/AIDS epidemic by working for public policies that promote prevention against new infections, provide care for people already living with HIV/AIDS, and support the search for a cure. AIDS Action is the national voice of all people living with HIV, representing community based organizations across the country.