In other news last week, President Bush released his budget. ‘Despite recommending a meager increase for [ADAP] and the Minority HIV/AIDS Initiative, President George W. Bush’s proposed federal budget … continues to under-fund the domestic and global fight against HIV/AIDS,’ AIDS Foundation of Chicago said.
‘We are disappointed in the administration’s budget proposal, especially the lack of additional funds for HIV prevention,’ said AFC Executive Director Mark Ishaug. ‘How can we possibly reduce the 40,000 infections each year in this country without a greater financial commitment to proven prevention programs?’
The proposed $35 million increase for the ADAP would bring the program’s total appropriation to $783 million, which is $284 million short of the projected need. With 15 state ADAPs closed to new enrollments and nearly 800 people with HIV/AIDS on waiting lists for medications, community advocates are calling on Congress to support a $180 million emergency supplemental appropriation this fiscal year for ADAP.
‘ADAP is one of our country’s most important and successful AIDS programs,’ said David Ernesto Munar, AFC associate director.
Despite an additional $3 million proposed for the Minority HIV/AIDS Initiative, people of color and all Americans affected by HIV will be hurt by the lack of adequate funding for programs addressing prevention, care, housing, and research, said AFC officials.
As part of the president’s new Marriage and Healthy Family Development Initiative, the president is asking Congress to double funding for abstinence education activities despite evidence that such programs may actually put young people at greater risk for HIV and other sexually transmitted diseases.
A largely unnoticed provision negotiated into the FY04 omnibus spending bill shaved millions of dollars from AIDS programs as part of an across-the-board funding cut. Congress passed the omnibus bill, which finances most federal AIDS programs, nearly four months into the current fiscal year.