Washington Blade - February 9, 2007
Joshua Lynsen

The AIDS Institute, AIDS Action Council and Human Rights Campaign agreed the proposed budget, unveiled Monday, falls short of providing enough money to effectively combat the epidemic.

"We have said from the start, and it remains true today, that more money is needed," said Rebecca Haag, executive director of AIDS Action Council. "The needle is pointing in the wrong direction, and lives of people in this country are at stake."

U.S. Department of Health & Human Services Secretary Mike Leavitt said in a prepared statement that Bush's proposal is compassionate, yet responsible.

"We are serving our citizens with compassion," he said, "while maintaining stewardship of their tax dollars."

Gene Copello, executive director of the AIDS Institute, welcomed the additional $21 million Bush earmarked in his 2008 budget for the Ryan White CARE Act, which provides care and medicine for people living with HIV/AIDS.

"But with increased caseloads and new testing initiatives, it is far from enough to provide adequate health care, social services and medications to all the people in need in the U.S.," he said.

The CARE Act - a $2.1 billion federal program - is poised to receive $75.8 million in new funds this year. The U.S. House approved that boost Jan. 31; the Senate had not voted on the measure by press time.

HRC President Joe Solmonese said the $75.8 million increase for 2007 was a step in the right direction.

"For six years, the Ryan White CARE Act has been the victim of flat funding, forcing cash-strapped states to make cutbacks in providing life saving care," Solmonese said.

However, Haag said the additional $21 million earmarked for 2008 doesn't keep pace with the increasing demand for CARE Act services.

"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," she said. "It is equally insulting but more damaging than his failure to mention domestic HIV in his State of the Union address in January."

The amount and handling of federal dollars used to combat HIV/AIDS domestically has been a contentious issue lately in Congress.

Lawmakers struggled to reauthorize the CARE Act after disagreements erupted over whether funding should be shifted from urban areas to rural parts of the country. Congress ultimately passed a compromise that gave new money to rural areas, but reduced funding losses for New York, New Jersey and California.

Bush signed that CARE Act renewal in December - and some activists had hoped the development heralded a new federal dedication to HIV care and treatment.

Instead, the 2008 budget seeks $93 million for the Centers for Disease Control & Prevention for HIV testing kits.

"This is a good start, since it can serve as a prevention vehicle and bring people into care and treatment, but we must do much more to reach the goal of no new infections in America," said Carl Schmid, federal affairs director of the AIDS Institute.

Also problematic, Schmid said, are proposals to decrease funding for medical research at the National Institutes of Health, and cut Medicare and Medicaid by $102 billion over the next five years.

He said the AIDS Institute is hopeful that Congress will reject both proposals, which could impede vaccine research and diminish health care for people living with HIV/AIDS.

Solmonese, meanwhile, criticized a budget provision that would increase by $28 million funds for abstinence-until-marriage programs that he said discriminate against gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender youth.

Although the budget seeks $5.4 billion to fight the global spread of HIV/AIDS, Solmonese said the document neglects many domestic HIV priorities and thus "fails to meet the challenges posed by today's epidemic."

Activists said the budget must take a holistic approach to fighting HIV/AIDS, with special attention given to black communities.

According to the Kaiser Family Foundation, about 500,000 of the 1.2 million Americans living with HIV/AIDS are black.

"The president has paid much rhetoric to the problem of HIV/AIDS among minority communities in the United States," Solmonese said. "It's time for the president to put his money where his mouth is and request funding for domestic HIV/AIDS programs that keeps pace with the real need."

Copello agreed. He also said Congress must work with corporate and community leaders to eradicate HIV/AIDS.

"The consequences otherwise will be grave, impacting not just the health of humanity, but also the world's political, economic and social systems," he said.

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