2003 Illinois HIV/AIDS Policy Priorities: Executive Summary

In order to reduce the number of annual HIV infections in Illinois, AFC is urging state lawmakers to:

• Help dramatically reduce HIV and hepatitis C transmission by passing legislation allowing adults to purchase and possess sterile syringes without a prescription.
• Restore $2 million in HIV prevention funding for communities of color that was vetoed by former Governor George Ryan, and increase the appropriation by $2 million.
• Enhance HIV prevention efforts in Illinois schools by requiring that all health and sex education curricula be comprehensive and medically accurate.
• Support legislation requiring healthcare providers to conduct HIV counseling and offer HIV testing to all patients who are pregnant. HIV counseling would increase awareness of HIV among childbearing women and assist HIV-positive pregnant women in preventing transmission to their children.
• Support a joint House-Senate resolution calling on Congress and the President to increase federal funding for research and development of microbicides.

In order to ensure access to essential health and social services for Illinoisans living with HIV/AIDS, and to offer real hope for those considering HIV testing, state lawmakers should:

• Invest an additional $6 million in Illinois's AIDS Drug Assistance Program to avert hundreds of millions of dollars in future healthcare costs.
• Provide Medicaid recipients with the option of prepaying their "spend down" each month in order to reduce red tape and promote continuity of care.
• Protect access to AIDS-related medications in the Medicaid program by passing legislation to ban prior authorization requirements for any AIDS-related medications.
• Fully fund Family Care in order to provide healthcare coverage to more low-income parents, including at least 1,300 living with HIV.

INTRODUCTION
An estimated 1,600 state residents become infected with HIV each year, and some 35,000 Illinoisans are believed to be living with HIV/AIDS. According to the CDC, half of all new HIV infections occur among people under age 25. HIV disproportionately affects African Americans and Latinos-populations already over-burdened by high rates of poverty, substance abuse, and chronic health conditions.

Mirroring national trends, unprotected sexual contact with an infected partner is the leading mode of HIV transmission, followed by injection drug use. In 2001, men who have sex with men accounted for nearly half (46%) of all new AIDS cases in Illinois among men; that year, injection drug use accounted for 21% of new male AIDS cases. While heterosexual contact is the leading mode of transmission for women (49% in 2001), at least half of these cases are believed to have resulted from unprotected sexual contact with a male injection drug user. In 2001, 33% of new female AIDS cases resulted directly from injection drug use. Women accounted for 22% of Illinois's 1,331 reported AIDS cases in 2001.

Recent medical advances have revolutionized AIDS care in the United States, and thanks to new medications and a better understanding of the disease's progression, more people with HIV are living longer and healthier than ever before. This change in the epidemic has made the need for increased funding and support for scientifically proven HIV prevention and care interventions more critical. During the first decade of the epidemic, approximately 100,000 people in the United States were infected with HIV each year. During the second decade of the epidemic, comprehensive HIV prevention programs brought this number down to its current level of 40,000 new infections annually. At this, the beginning of the third decade of AIDS, we must reaffirm our commitment to stemming the spread of HIV by funding and implementing the HIV prevention programs that we know work. We must also ensure that those who live with HIV have the healthcare and support services they need to live fulfilling and productive lives.

Investments in HIV prevention and care that result in transmission reductions and improved health outcomes have direct and compelling benefits for affected individuals, communities, and society as a whole. Targeted and adequately funded prevention and care efforts will reduce state healthcare expenditures and result in improved health outcomes for those populations most affected by HIV/AIDS.

Printable Document

Executive Summary

HIV Prevention Priorities

HIV Care Priorities

Prevention Background

Policy Priorities Archive