AIDS Healthcare Foundation Urges Schwarzenegger to Reverse California AIDS Cuts
In a statement released today, January 11, the AIDS Healthcare Foundation (AHF) urges California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger to reverse his proposed state budget cuts, which would eliminate $11 million in services for Californians living with HIV. AHF asks that the governor consider other means of rectifying the state’s $14 billion deficit—such as cutting bureaucracy and corporate-tax-evasion loopholes—besides targeting public health services.
While the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) prepares to release new numbers indicating an increase in HIV prevalence in the U.S.—speculated as being 50 percent higher than previously believed—AHF advises the governor that cutting HIV services may result in additional expenditures in the long run, as more people in the state will be in need of HIV-related services.
Of the $11 million cut from AIDS services, $7 million will be cut from California’s AIDS Drug Assistance Program (ADAP), which helps low-income people with HIV obtain necessary antiretroviral medications.
In the statement, which can be read here, AHF president Michael Weinstein proposes that the state could save 15 percent of its annual budget by reducing drug company reimbursements and by purchasing ADAP drugs at federal pricing levels.
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Victor W Russell, San Jose, 2008-01-18 21:48:16
Why should this be worthy of any comment... It's simply balancing the budget on the backs of those who can afford it the least and have the least amount of clout to do anything about it. Bush has been lying about the numbers of new infections and cases progressing to AIDS so that funding stream is cut by about 2/3 so why can’t Governor Schwarzenegger do it to us too? Sadly, I voted for him and am now very saddened that I did.
Beth Benne, RN, is HIV negative, but
the virus has impacted her life. She currently supervises a biannual HIV/AIDS awareness week as
the director of the student health center at Pierce College, a
community commuter school in Woodland Hills, California.
Woman of the Month is supported by exclusive advertising from Gilead.
Overheard in the Women's Forum
"I recently met a guy who is negative. I did tell him about my status and he decided to kiss me anyway (we didn't go further than that). But a day later, he called and said that he actually had a mouth ulcer that time when we kissed and he was very worried. Asked if he can get the virus from me that way. For that moment, I felt so insulted and yet I felt so bad. It was my first time having a contact with a "negative" guy."
