"These guidelines are a good starting point to help inform physicians treating people with HIV disease with the new multiple drug `cocktails,'" said Winnie Stachelberg, HRC's legislative director. "Now Congress must work with the administration to ensure that the federal programs providing treatment for people with HIV and AIDS meet the standards set forth in the guidelines -- particularly by making these drugs accessible to all who need them."

The guidelines, jointly produced by the Department of Health and Human Services and the National Institutes of Health, were created to educate physicians and patients regarding the treatment of HIV disease with the new anti-retroviral drugs. They are meant to help physicians and patients decide which drugs to use and when, based on a variety of factors, including the progress of HIV infection.

"In light of these recommendations, we call on Congress and the administration to re-examine the AIDS Drug Assistance Program and Medicaid, which currently provide drugs primarily to the sickest people with HIV disease," Stachelberg said. "We must ensure that these programs allow for the early and aggressive treatment of people with HIV, even those with no symptoms."

Currently, AIDS Drug Assistance Programs across the country are limiting the number of drugs they provide and restricting access to their programs to stay financially solvent. These guidelines have the potential to widen the gap between what people need and what these programs can provide unless the federal and state governments step in to help.

Stachelberg urged the administration and Congress to increase funding for the federal HIV and AIDS treatment programs.

"The president did not request any specific increases in the AIDS Drug Assistance Program for fiscal 1998, and no HIV and AIDS programs were on the `protected list' in the budget agreement," she said. "These guidelines point to the need to rectify this."

In fact, ACT UP and other AIDS activist groups are beginning once again, as they did when Reagan and Bush were in office, to critique the present lack of proper government funding to fight HIV infections as well as what they consider a focus on preventive vaccines that will have no effect on persons who are already living with AIDS.