Appropriations for HIV/AIDS Programs
Increased Appropriations to Fight HIV/AIDS
The Human Rights Campaign is deeply concerned about years of inadequate funding for the Ryan White Comprehensive AIDS Resources Emergency Act and other federally funded HIV/AIDS programs. HIV/AIDS remains a national crisis, particularly among gay and bisexual men and communities of color. We must make combating HIV/AIDS a priority by harnessing all possible resources to prevent new infections, provide meaningful access to quality care and treatment, boost research to find a cure and address the global crisis.
The Ryan White CARE Act
The Ryan White CARE Act provides access to life-saving treatment and care for more than half a million low-income Americans with HIV/AIDS. However, years of inadequate funding has stretched the program considerably as it struggles to serve more and more beneficiaries with the same amount of resources. Many states have been forced to institute cost-containment measures such as waiting lists and capped drug formularies. The AIDS Drug Assistance Program has particularly experienced severe strain in recent years. Congress must appropriate adequate resources to this vital program which provides a lifeline to so many Americans with HIV/AIDS.
Prevention Efforts
Funding for HIV prevention at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention was cut by more than $14 million in the most recently adopted Labor / Health and Human Services / Education appropriations bill. At the same time, Congress yet again increased funding for unproven abstinence-only-until-marriage sex education programs, which the Bush administration has restricted to discussing marriage only as the union between a man and a woman. With alarmingly high rates of HIV among young gay men, this anti-gay restriction illustrates that these programs are not driven by public health concerns, but rather by narrow right-wing ideology. HRC strongly advocates for increases in funding for HIV-prevention programs based on proven science and not anti-gay ideology.
Research
In the most recently passed Labor / Health and Human Services / Education appropriations bill, Congress also failed to sufficiently fund HIV/AIDS research, giving the National Institutes of Health its smallest percentage increase — less than 1 percent — since 1970 and cutting $15 million from the Office of AIDS Research. As people living with HIV/AIDS around the world hope for the development of microbicides and other crucial preventative and treatment options — and one day a cure — cuts to AIDS research and NIH mean that new funding for this crucial research will be extremely limited. HRC strongly advocates for significant increases to the Office of AIDS Research at the NIH so that our nation will continue to lead the world in efforts to find a cure for AIDS.
Housing Opportunities for People with AIDS (HOPWA)
Approximately one-third to one-half of Americans with AIDS at any given time are either homeless or at imminent risk of homelessness. Recent research indicates that individuals with housing are much more likely to adhere to their complex care regimens and are far less likely to transmit HIV to someone else. The HOPWA program provides critical funding to cities and states to address the housing crises in their communities among those with HIV/AIDS and provides a stabilizing force to stem the spread of infection. Unfortunately, as demand for these vital funds has increased, the resources have not. HRC strongly encourages Congress to appropriate increases to the HOPWA program.
Global AIDS
The Bush administration and Congress have made significant steps in raising awareness and dedicating funding to fight the global AIDS pandemic through donations to the Global Fund for AIDS, Malaria and Tuberculosis and the creation of the President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR). However, much remains to be done. Current law mandates that 33 percent of PEPFAR prevention funds must be dedicated to abstinence-only-until-marriage programs. In a study released last April, the Government Accountability Office found that this restriction hindered the ability of HIV/AIDS organizations to respond to local prevention needs. Instead of outsourcing our failed prevention policies overseas, U.S. global AIDS policy should allow local organizations flexibility to provide the most effective HIV-prevention programs possible. HRC urges increases to global AIDS relief funding free of ideological riders.
If you have any questions about federal HIV/AIDS programs, or for more information, please contact legislation@hrc.org.
Last Updated: Saturday, August 25, 2007