Thursday, September 29, 2011

Good News: Increased Funding For ADAP

Finally, some good news for those who are HIV+ or have AIDS.

This past Monday, the federal government announced that  it has allocated nearly $2 billion in funding to states to fight the HIV epidemic, with access to care and with more cash for the failing AIDS Drug Assistance Program [ADAP].

According to an Health and Human Services  press release, $813 million of that money will go directly to ADAP programming, while an additional $8.3 million will be issued as a supplement to 36 states and territories currently facing a crisis of unmet needs and access issues. The additional money is designed to help those programs reduce or eliminate their waiting lists.

ADAP provides access to the costly anti-retroviral medications that have turned HIV into a more manageable disease; many HIV drugs can cost tens of thousands of dollars a year in the US. ADAP also assists in paying for drugs to treat opportunistic infections that HIV+ persons can suffer as a result of diminished immune functions.

This is great news for those people on a "waiting list" to see if they can get their medications. As of September 22, 2010, there were some 9,000, in ten states--including South Carolina--on waiting lists.

In addition to allocating new funds to ADAP, the feds also announced millions in funding for direct medical care as well as programming to assist minorities--who are particularly hard hit by the HIV/AIDS epidemic--in accessing medical care for the infection.

Finally, it seems, someone is listening.
 
source

3 comments:

  1. Thank goodness for this!

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  2. Please be advised that this isn't the Feds coming to the rescue, but rather the Feds releasing the annual appropriation approved by Congress and the President. Aside from the nearly $50 million in new money for the cash-strapped ADAPs (which is far below the $300+ million that is needed), there is NO new money here. This will help the ADAP waiting lists in the very short term, but the lists will begin growing again.

    -- ADAP Advocacy Association

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