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PRNewswire - December 9, 2006
WASHINGTON, Dec. 9 /PRNewswire/ -- AIDS Healthcare Foundation (AHF), the largest AIDS healthcare, prevention and education provider in the United States which operates free AIDS treatment clinics in the US, Africa, Latin America/Caribbean and Asia, including 14 healthcare centers in California and Florida, applauded the United States House of Representatives for its passage earlier today of the Ryan White CARE Act (RWCA, or the CARE Act), the federal law that provides the primary source of funding for AIDS care and services nationwide. On Wednesday, the Senate passed a compromise version of the bill by unanimous consent in a voice vote. That compromise version, the bill on which the House concurred today, addressed several key lawmakers' concerns about the equitable distribution of federal AIDS funds across the country, and in particular, the potential loss of millions of dollars in HIV/AIDS funding by urban centers in New York, California, New Jersey and Illinois that have been particularly hard hit by the epidemic.
"Today is great day for people with AIDS in the U.S.," said Michael Weinstein, President of the AIDS Healthcare Foundation. "Opportunities for people living with HIV/AIDS to obtain medical care and get on lifesaving antiretroviral drug treatments should increase significantly with the passage of this bill which prioritizes medical care over bureaucracy. We thank the House of Representatives for concurring with the Senate on the reauthorization of the Ryan White CARE Act, and now urge President Bush to quickly sign this lifesaving bill into law so that the Health Resources and Services Administration can begin to act in accordance with the new law."
Late last year, the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) announced that for the first time, more than one million Americans were living with HIV. Almost half of those infected are not consistently accessing care and treatment, and more than one quarter of the million nationwide are unaware they are infected with HIV. AHF supported the CDC's recent recommendation to move toward routine HIV testing, and was heartened that provisions were made in the reauthorized CARE Act to support the routine offering of HIV testing in an effort to de-stigmatize the disease and bring more people into treatment.
"In the U.S. today, HIV/AIDS is a very treatable illness and if one has access to medical care and anti-retroviral drug therapies, it should be a stable medical condition with the patient in good health," added Charles Farthing, M.D., AHF's Chief of Medicine. "For the first time since its introduction in 1990, the CARE Act will prioritize funding for 'core medical services' and promote a more equitable distribution of federal AIDS funds across the country. Through this updated CARE Act, funding will now be targeted to where the greatest need is -- the clinic. We thank the House of Representatives for its favorable action on this bill, legislation which will undoubtedly help bring many more people living with HIV/AIDS into care and treatment and good health."
The bill -- which was originally up for reauthorization in September 2005 -- languished since this past September [2006] when Congress adjourned without the Senate passing a measure to reauthorize the CARE Act. At that time, several Senators blocked consideration of the House-approved bill over disagreements over the distribution and reapportionment of funds among urban and rural areas affected by the disease.
SOURCE AIDS Healthcare Foundation
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