Gay Today: World

Clinton Budget Snubs HIV Prevention

CDC Reports Increase in Unsafe Safe

Compiled By GayToday

Washington, D.C.---President's Clinton's 2000 budget request given to Congress Monday, barely increases HIV prevention efforts for the third year in a row, despite unsettling reports from the Centers For Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) that unsafe sex is on the rise.

The President has requested $666 million for HIV prevention for fiscal year 2000, a 1.4% increase compared to the $657 million approved in last year's omnibus spending bill.

"A budget reflects priorities," said Winnie Stachelberg, HRC's political director. "Last year and the year before that, the administration has chosen not to make HIV prevention a priority. We call on the President to reconsider this choice and work with Congress to address this huge gap in the national response to the AIDS epidemic."

Last week, the CDC reported that the number of gay men in San Francisco who reported having unprotected sex increased from 30.4% in 1994 to 39.2 percent in 1997. Men, primarily those 25 and younger, who said they had unprotected sex with more than one person also increased from 23.6% in 1994 to 33 percent in 1997.

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The CDC reports that young gay and bisexual men are less likely to engage in safe sex than older men. "While AIDS deaths have gone down as a result of these drugs, the sad reality is that HIV infection rates have remained constant and AIDS remains the number one killer of African-Americans and Latinos age 25-44.

This epidemic is far from over, and until we start significantly reducing HIV infection rates, it never will be," said Seth Kilbourn, HRC's senior health policy advocate.

Acting on a recommendation from the Presidential Advisory Council on HIV/AIDS, the budget offered $10 million for a national HIV counseling and testing awareness campaign, modeled on the current National Youth Anti-Drug Media Campaign coordinated by the White House Office of National Drug Control Policy.

"This campaign is a step in the right direction. It will help educate and encourage more people to know their HIV status, which is key in stopping the progression of the disease," said Kilbourn.

As the budget and appropriations process moves forward, HRC is committed to working with the administration and Congress on a comprehensive HIV prevention plan.

Such a plan should include adequate funding for existing efforts, support for local needle exchange programs, substance abuse treatment for everyone who seeks it, and a national social marketing campaign designed to reduce the stigma of HIV, highlight methods to reduce or eliminate risk, and encourage people to know their HIV status.

The fiscal 2000 budget includes modest increases in funding for HIV and AIDS treatment programs like the Ryan White CARE Act for which the President requested an increase of $100 million.

The CARE Act includes funding for AIDS Drug Assistance Programs and comprehensive care and vital lifesaving supportive services for low income people with HIV.

Also included in the President's request is funding for the "Work Incentives Improvement Act of 1999". Introduced on Jan. 28 by Senators Jeffords, R-VT, Kennedy, D-Massachusetts, Roth, R-Delaware, and Moynihan, D-New York, the bill would ensure that a person with a disability, including someone with HIV disease, would have continued access to adequate and affordable health insurance when he or she returns to work.