NEWS

WIRES

OTHER

CORRECTING and REPLACING "AIDS Cuts Kill," Say Activists Set to Rally at State House Tomorrow

The corrected release reads:

"AIDS CUTS KILL," SAY ACTIVISTS SET TO RALLY AT STATE HOUSE TOMORROW

Hundreds Expected to Rally at the State House Tomorrow from 11:30 AM to 12:30 PM Seeking to Restore $ 5.9 Million in Proposed Funding Cuts & Reverse Proposed Elimination of ALL AIDS Funding from the State Budget

A Coalition of AIDS Activists, Patients, Medical Care Providers and Concerned Citizens Will Urge State Legislature to Restore Funding to Prevent Repeat of 2006 Tragedy in Which Four South Carolinians Died While on AIDS Drug Assistance Program Waitlist

AIDS Healthcare Foundation:

A coalition of hundreds of AIDS activists, patients, medical care providers and concerned citizens of all backgrounds are expected to gather tomorrow, Wednesday, March 17^th from 11:30 am to 12:30 pm on the north side of the South Carolina State House for a rally to reinstate all $5.9 million in HIV/AIDS funding. Earlier this month, the South Carolina House of Representatives voted to cut all such funding from the state budget, becoming the first state in the nation to propose the elimination of its entire HIV/AIDS budget. The proposed cuts primarily affect the AIDS Drug Assistance Program (ADAP) budget-a government program that pays for lifesaving AIDS drugs for the state's poorest residents-and the state's HIV/AIDS prevention budget (for PROJECT FAITH, Fostering AIDS Initiatives That Heal). The proposed elimination of state funding places urgently-needed matching federal funds in jeopardy as well.

During the rally, the coalition, led by the South Carolina HIV/AIDS Care Crisis Task Force, will urge state lawmakers to restore the crucial funds upon which thousands of South Carolinians depend for lifesaving HIV/AIDS medications. According to the South Carolina HIV/AIDS Care Crisis Task Force, there are more than 14,000 people living with HIV/AIDS in the state. Approximately 3,000 people rely on government funds for their medications.

"We urge state lawmakers to restore the funding for the state AIDS Drug Assistance Program, as the proposed cuts will have severe and catastrophic consequences if enacted," said Dr. Bambi Gaddist, Chair, South Carolina HIV/AIDS Care Crisis Task Force. "This is truly a matter of life or death for the thousands of people who depend upon the state to provide the lifesaving medications that enable them to lead healthy, productive lives. HIV medications can also reduce the level of infectiousness and prevent transmission of HIV from one person to another. So, this funding is also needed to help prevent the further spread of AIDS in South Carolina."

Added Dr. Gaddist. "Although we understand that an amendment has been submitted to restore $2.2 million of the original allocation of $5.9 million, the AIDS Drug Assistance Program is receiving one hundred new applications each month. If the legislature fails to fully restore funding for HIV/AIDS prevention and ADAP back in the budget, we fear that South Carolina is looking at an even greater crisis than the one in 2006 which led to four tragic deaths."

The South Carolina HIV/AIDS Care Crisis Task Force was created in 2006-the year that state HIV/AIDS funding began in South Carolina. At that time there were 600 people on a waiting list to receive medicine. Four of those people died. According to a press release from the Title II Community AIDS National Network, at that time the South Carolina participants were 67% African-American and 85% earned less than 200% of the federal poverty level (approximately $19,000 a year).

Funding shortages across the nation continue to affect ADAP programs nationwide. There are currently over 550 Americans on ADAP waiting lists in eleven states-and the numbers are rising. Funding cuts and the cost of covering skyrocketing drug prices have left state ADAPs stretched beyond capacity. The need for services is only expanding as more people face unemployment and the loss of job-sponsored health insurance in this challenging economic environment.

"As the first state in the nation to propose the elimination of all state AIDS funding, the crisis in South Carolina has grim national implications," said Michael Weinstein, President of AIDS Healthcare Foundation, the U.S.' largest HIV/AIDS organization and a member of the coalition, in a statement. "The four tragic deaths in South Carolina-just four short years ago—proves that it is no exaggeration to say that AIDS cuts kill. It is my hope that the South Carolina legislature will reconsider these ill-advised cuts that will certainly lead to poor health outcomes-possibly even death—and increased infections. I can hardly imagine a more dangerous precedent to set for ADAPs across the nation than to balance the budget on the backs of some of South Carolina's poorest and sickest citizens."

South Carolina ranks 8th in the nation for the rate of new AIDS cases. Columbia, the state's capitol, ranks 9th in the nation in the rate of AIDS.

Lori Yeghiayan,
Assoc. Dir. Of Communications
AIDS Healthcare Foundation
Telephone: (323) 377-4312 Mobile
loriy@aidshealth.org
or
Dr. Bambi W. Gaddist
Chair, South Carolina HIV/AIDS Care Crisis Task Force
Telephone: (803) 254-6644
BAMEWAME@aol.com