PRNewswire - December 19, 2006

WASHINGTON, Dec. 19 /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 and thanked President Bush today for signing 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. The bill is a compromise version approved by both houses of Congress as the 109th Congress drew to a close on December 9th. At that time, President Bush said, "This legislation focuses on life-saving and life-extending services and increased accountability, and will provide more flexibility to the Secretary of Health and Human Services to direct funding to areas of greatest need. The Ryan White Care Act demonstrates the compassionate and generous spirit of America, and I look forward to signing this important legislation into law." The updated CARE Act, which Bush signed in a White House ceremony earlier today, now addresses several key lawmakers' concerns about the equitable distribution of federal AIDS funds across the country and also heads off the potential loss of millions in AIDS funding to certain hard-hit urban areas.

"We thank President Bush for swiftly signing this lifesaving AIDS care bill into law," said Michael Weinstein, President of the AIDS Healthcare Foundation. "This updated and reauthorized version of the Ryan White CARE Act will dramatically increase the opportunities for people living with HIV/AIDS throughout the U.S. to obtain medical care and get on lifesaving antiretroviral drug treatments. We applaud the passage of a bill that now prioritizes medical care over bureaucracy, and urge the Health Resources and Services Administration to quickly begin to act in accordance with the parameters of the new law."

The bill -- which was first enacted in 1990 and most recently was set for reauthorization in September 2005 -- had languished since September 2006 when Congress adjourned in the fall 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, 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.

"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 President Bush for signing this bill, legislation which will undoubtedly help bring many more people living with HIV/AIDS into care and treatment and good health."

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 have been 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.

SOURCE AIDS Healthcare Foundation

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