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WASHINGTON, February 1, 2010 |
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AIDS Action Statement on President Obama’s FY 2011 Budget Request. In a time of fiscal constraint, consistent with his support for a comprehensive National HIV/AIDS Strategy, President Obama identified nearly $80 million in increases for HIV/AIDS care, treatment, and prevention services in his budget request for FY 2011, which was released on Monday, February 1.
The proposed budget also allocates a nearly $100 million increase in funding for HIV/AIDS research. While these are not the increases needed to reverse the ever growing HIV epidemic and provide access to care and treatment for all people living with HIV/AIDS, they are a measure of the President’s commitment to domestic fight against HIV/AIDS. President Obama had difficult decisions to make in addressing the economic and fiscal challenges that are continuing. He rightly chose to increase funding in the domestic HIV/AIDS portfolio. People living with HIV and AIDS do not exist apart from the overall health care and public health systems of the nation. That is why it remains important for Congress to enact meaningful, comprehensive health care reform now, with the necessary funding to implement and sustain a reformed health care system and improved public health. AIDS Action will work closely with Congress to build upon the foundation laid out in President Obama’s FY 2011 budget request to secure adequate funding for all health care and public health programs. |
