The AIDS Institute Encouraged by Senate Funding Increases

The AIDS Institute is encouraged by a Senate subcommittee’s passage of a spending bill that would provide a $78 million dollar increase for the Ryan White CARE Act in FY 07 – including $55 million more for the nation’s AIDS Drug Assistance Program (ADAP), a $15 million increase for State AIDS spending, and slight increases for other CARE Act programs.

The Senate Subcommittee on Appropriations approved the increases after the House Appropriations Committee passed a bill last month that provided no increases to the AIDS Drug Assistance Program, which have been struggling to provide lifesaving medications to low-income people living with HIV/AIDS. Last week, The AIDS Institute sent a letter to Senate leaders urging them to support funding increases for the CARE Act and ADAP, in particular.

“We are pleased the Senate subcommittee recognized the need for increases to the Ryan White CARE Act and ADAP,” said Dr. Gene Copello, Executive Director of The AIDS Institute. “The increases, while appreciated, are still not enough to keep pace with ever increasing patient demand and costs. We will continue to work with House and Senate members to increase these funding levels.”

The Senate subcommittee bill, which now moves to the full Senate Appropriations Committee this week, provides only a $28.2 million increase for CDC’s AIDS prevention and surveillance budget, falling far short of the President’s request to increase AIDS testing by instituting a $93 million HIV rapid test program.

“While we welcome the increases for CDC testing,” said Carl Schmid, Director of Federal Affairs for The AIDS Institute, “we are disappointed they are far below what the President proposed and we will work with the Senate to increase them. With one quarter of people infected with HIV not aware of their status, these funds are of critical importance.”

Senate subcommittee members also proposed a $220 million increase for the National Institutes for Health, which provides a small increase that will hopefully translate into an increase for AIDS research.

In separate action yesterday, another Senate Appropriations Subcommittee approved only an $8.8 million increase for the Housing Opportunities For People With AIDS Program (HOPWA) for FY 07. This is less than the $14 million increase proposed by the President and approved by the House. Copello said: “We will continue to advocate for higher increases in HOPWA in coalition with other organizations as the congressional appropriations process moves forward.”