President's Budget Under Funds Fight Against HIV/AIDS

Despite recommending a meager increase for the AIDS Drug Assistance Program (ADAP) and the Minority HIV/AIDS Initiative, President George W. Bush's 2005 proposed federal budget, released today, continues to under-fund the domestic and global fight against HIV/AIDS.

"We are disappointed in the administration's 2005 budget proposal, especially the lack of additional funds for HIV prevention," said Mark Ishaug, executive director of the AIDS Foundation of Chicago (AFC). "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 AIDS Drug Assistance Program (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. "Thousands of HIV-positive people will be denied access to care, which will simply worsen our nation's AIDS crisis."

Despite an additional $3 million proposed for the Minority HIV/AIDS Initiative (MHAI), people of color and all Americans affected by HIV/AIDS will be hurt by the lack of adequate funding for core programs addressing AIDS prevention, care, housing, and research, said AFC officials. The budget seeks no new funds for domestic HIV prevention services, AIDS housing, or essential medical and social services through the Ryan White CARE Act. Global AIDS programs would receive a slight increase over FY04 levels. However, the administration recommends reducing the United State's contribution to the Global Fund to Fight AIDS by $300 million.

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 once they become sexually active.

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.

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Founded 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.