Associated Press - December 1, 2003
Mason Stockstill, Associated Press Writer

Officials at the JWCH Medical Clinic in downtown Los Angeles gathered Monday to call on Schwarzenegger to keep funding for the AIDS Drug Assistance Program proportionate to the need.

"The governor has the money, and we're urging him to spend it," said John King, executive director of the Weingart Center, a nonprofit medical and housing organization.

The governor's budget plan includes a spending cap for the program, which helps cover the cost of certain drugs for patients earning less than $50,000 a year.

Under Schwarzenegger's proposal, waiting lists would be established for the program if demand exceeds the amount of funding available.

Treatment officials said the plan could have devastating effects, since the number of AIDS cases in California continues to rise.

A call to the state Department of Finance was not immediately returned.

According to the state Department of Health Services, there were 132,988 people in California with AIDS as of Oct. 31 -- an increase of more than 5,000 over the last 12 months.

Tens of thousands attended World AIDS Day events across the globe Monday, taking time to remember the 8,000 people who die of the disease each day and to reaffirm their commitment to improving treatment.

In Beijing, representatives from the Center for Disease Control handed brochures and condoms to workers -- who clamored for their share. Some left with fistfuls of prophylactics after hearing a worker describe how they should be used.

Also, an 80-member U.S. delegation headed by Health and Human Services Secretary Tommy Thompson started a tour of sub-Saharan Africa on Sunday to assess projects and determine what needs to be done to increase treatment and prevent the spread of the virus.

In San Francisco, about 100 people gathered under a tent erected in the National AIDS Memorial Grove, a seven-acre wooded basin in Golden Gate Park, to pay tribute to all whose lives have been touched by AIDS.

During the ceremony, attendees were invited to write down the names of loved ones lost or struggling with HIV on silver leaves created by a class of fifth-grade San Francisco students. The nearly one hundred Leaves of Remembrance will hang from tree branches in the grove until Jan. 1.

After the ceremony, San Francisco AIDS activist Paul Miller received the sixth annual Grove HIV/AIDS Community Service award. Miller is the workshops and forums development coordinator at Stop AIDS project, where he created an HIV prevention program called "In Our Prime" for gay and bisexual men 45 and older.

Congress designated the grove as a national memorial site in 1996.
031201
AP031211

Copyright © 2003 - Associated Press. Reproduction of this article (other than one copy for personal reference) must be cleared through the AP Permissions Desk.

AEGiS is a 501(c)3, not-for-profit, tax-exempt, educational corporation. AEGiS is made possible through unrestricted funding from Elton John AIDS Foundation UK, the National Library of Medicine, AIDS Walk of Orange County, and donations from users like you.

Always watch for outdated information. This article first appeared in 2003. This material is designed to support, not replace, the relationship that exists between you and your doctor.

AEGiS presents published material, reprinted with permission and neither endorses nor opposes any material. All information contained on this website, including information relating to health conditions, products, and treatments, is for informational purposes only. It is often presented in summary or aggregate form. It is not meant to be a substitute for the advice provided by your own physician or other medical professionals. Always discuss treatment options with a doctor who specializes in treating HIV.

Copyright ©1980, 2003. AEGiS. All materials appearing on AEGiS are protected by copyright as a collective work or compilation under U.S. copyright and other laws and are the property of AEGiS, or the party credited as the provider of the content. .