Scores of Agencies, Chicagoans Call on Mayor Daley to Increase AIDS Funding

CHICAGO-Sixty-two local agencies joined together today in a letter to Mayor Daley calling on him to provide for a $1 million increase in city funding for HIV prevention services in the 2004 budget. At the same time, hundreds of Chicago residents have telephoned the mayor's office in recent days echoing the agencies' request.

"Today's letter from local agencies is yet another clarion call to the mayor that the unabated spread of this deadly disease throughout our City is totally unacceptable," said Brent Adams, policy associate at the AIDS Foundation of Chicago. "A large and broad coalition of local residents, organizations, and elected officials are unified in this cause."

According to the letter, HIV/AIDS in Chicago is an escalating public health crisis, which has been especially severe in communities of color. People of color account for approximately 69% of the City's population, but they account for 81% of recently diagnosed adult AIDS cases and 77% of recently diagnosed HIV cases. African-Americans alone account for 65% of recently diagnosed adult AIDS cases and 61% of recently diagnosed adult HIV cases. Gay men continue to be hard hit. According to the agencies' letter, "Male-to-male sexual contact remains the number one mode of transmission."

The mayor's final 2004 budget is set to be released on October 15, 2003, and AIDS advocates have received no assurances from the mayor's office as to whether the mayor will try to increase or cut funding for HIV prevention or keep it at its current level. Since last week, several community organizations have asked their clients and community advocates to call the mayor's office regarding the need for increased HIV prevention funding.

City funding for HIV prevention has been cut 8% since 1997 - from nearly $4 million to $3.6 million - while the City's reported number of AIDS cases has increased 32% -- from 15,441 to 20,480. For the first time, reported AIDS cases in Chicago exceeded the 20,000 mark. Of those individuals, only 8,930 are still alive. More than 11,000 people in Chicago have died of AIDS.

Twenty-eight of Chicago's 50 aldermen signed their own letter to Mayor Daley, also asking him to increase city funding for HIV prevention by $1 million. "The City's HIV/AIDS crisis will not wait until economic conditions improve," the aldermen said. Both the agencies' letter and the aldermen's letter refer to research showing that $1 million spent on HIV prevention has the potential to save $2.7 million in healthcare costs.

The agencies who signed the letter to Mayor Daley are: Access Community Health Network, AIDS Care, AIDS Foundation of Chicago, AIDS Legal Council of Chicago, Alliance for Community Empowerment, American Civil Liberties Union of Illinois, Asian Health Coalition of Illinois, Asian Human Services, Association of Latin Men in Action, Better Existence with HIV, Bonaventure House, CALOR - a division of Anixter Center, Catholic Charities of Lake County, Center on Halsted/Horizons Community Services, Chicago Chapter - National Organization for Women, Chicago Health Outreach, Chicago House, Chicago Recovery Alliance, Chicago Women's AIDS Project, Children's Memorial Hospital, The Children's Place Association, Christian Community Health Center, Citizen Action/Illinois, Cook County Westside Health Center - CDC Initiative, Division of Adolescent and Young Adult Medicine - Department of Pediatrics - John H. Stroger Jr. - Cook County, EASE - the Chicago Area HIV Caucus, Equality Illinois, Families' and Children's AIDS Network, Garfield Counseling Center, Greater Chicago Committee, Health & Disability Advocates, Hemophilia Foundation of Illinois, Howard Area Community Center, Howard Brown Health Center, Human Rights Campaign - Illinois Steering Committee, Interfaith House, Lakeview Action Coalition, Lambda Legal, Lawndale Christian Health Center, Lawyers' Committee for Better Housing, Midwest AIDS Training and Education Center, Midwest Hispanic Health Coalition, NAMES Project AIDS Memorial Quilt, National Association on HIV Over Fifty, National Center on Poverty Law, New Phoenix Assistance Center, The Night Ministry, Pediatric AIDS Chicago Prevention Initiative, Planned Parenthood/Chicago Area, Project VIDA, Rainbow/PUSH Coalition, Research and Education Foundation of the Michael Reese Medical Staff, A Safe Haven, South Shore Hospital, South Side Help Center, Southside Health Association, Southwest Youth Collaborative, TASC, Inc., Test Positive Aware Network, University of Chicago, Vida/SIDA, and Vital Bridges NFP, Inc.

The aldermen who signed the letter to the mayor are: Manuel Flores (1st), Madeline Haithcock (2nd), Toni Preckwinkle (4th), Leslie Hairston (5th), Todd Stroger (8th), Ed Burke (14th), Theodore Thomas (15th), Tom Murphy (18th), Michael Chandler (24th), Billy Ocasio (26th), Walter Burnett, Jr. (27th), Ed Smith (28th), Isaac Carothers (29th), Carrie Austin (34th), Rey Colon (35th), William Banks (36th), Emma Mitts (37th), Thomas Allen (38th), Margaret Laurino (39th), Pat O'Connor (40th), Burt Natarus (42nd), Vi Daley (43rd), Tom Tunney (44th), Pat Levar (45th), Helen Shiller (46th), Gene Schulter (47th), Mary Ann Smith (48th), and Joe Moore (49th).

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Established in 1985 to provide central leadership in the fight against the epidemic, the AIDS Foundation of Chicago (AFC) promotes sound HIV/AIDS public policy, funds HIV/AIDS care and prevention projects, and through its Service Providers Council, helps to coordinate the delivery of essential HIV/AIDS services.

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