November 10, 2006

LACK OF AIDS FUNDING LEAVES THREE DEAD IN SC- NOT ONE MORE!

Three people have died since South Carolina started a waiting list for the state's AIDS Drug Assistance Program (ADAP) in June 2006. The South Carolina Department of Health and Environmental Control confirmed the deaths but has not released any further information about the most recent casualties of on-going political neglect.

ADAP is the federally supported program to provide life-saving anti-retroviral medications to poor people living with AIDS. South Carolina's ADAP program currently serves about 1,800 clients. Almost all earn less than $38,000 a year- 200% of the federal poverty level and not nearly enough to cover even one of the many expensive prescriptions necessary for AIDS treatment. Right now, between 200 and 300 ADAP-qualified South Carolinians are on the waiting list. That's nearly 10 times more than the longest waiting list in any other state (33 people in Indiana).

"It is unconscionable that our elected officials would allow poor people to die because they cannot afford life-saving medicines," said Karen Bates, Co-Chair of SC-C2EA. "South Carolina Governor Mark Sanford and the Budget and Control Board can stop this needless death and suffering. SC-C2EA urges the C. Earl Hunter, Commissioner of the Department of Health and Environmental Control to immediately request that the Budget and Control Board appropriate emergency money to end the ADAP waiting list now. Then, when the legislature sets the state budget this spring, they must include a line item to permanently fix the problem."

The South Carolina program needs $3,000,000 to clear the wait list by June of 2007 and another $8,000,000 million will be needed by 2008, estimates the National Alliance of State and Territorial AIDS Directors (NASTAD). Currently South Carolina spends less than half of one percent, or $500,000 per year, of its state budget on treatment and care for HIV/AIDS, compared to the $5 million North Carolina spends and the $11 million spent by Alabama. North Carolina and Alabama faced shortfalls similar to SC, but state governments there filled the gap.

The Budget Control Board- composed of the Governor, the Treasurer, the Comptroller General, the Chairman of the Senate Finance Committee, and the Chairman of the House Ways and Means Committee- has the power to spend emergency funds outside of the normal legislative process.

A Little Hand from the New Democratic Congress?

ADAP is entering month number 8 of its inadequate FY2006 federal funding, leaving the whole country struggling to address AIDS.

"This is not just a problem for South Carolina. Alaska, Indiana, Montana, and West Virginia all have waiting lists for AIDS treatment. And the meds are only half of it- poor people living with AIDS work until they're too sick to work anymore," said Stephanie Williams, State Chair for SC-C2EA. "They're living in sub-standard housing or going back to live with mom and dad. Parents are dying, and old folk are raising their grandkids and great grandkids. This affects whole communities, and the federal government must fully fund the Ryan White CARE Act to even begin solving the problem."

If Congress flat funds ADAP in FY07 then South Carolina and poor communities across the country can expect more preventable deaths.

"This administration continually demands that every life is precious, but yet fails to place a priority on the precious lives that consumed from AIDS," said Michael Emanuel Rajner, National Secretary - Campaign To End AIDS. "As a recipient of ADAP in Florida, I come very close to no longer meeting the financial requirements of eligibility. I stand to loose access for the funding source for my own medications- I cannot afford the annual $6,000 in Medicare Part D co-pays and deductibles."

Rajner and other AIDS advocates from across the country are rallying to support South Carolina and call for the Washington to allocate the amount actually needed to end AIDS- not what seems most politically expedient.

RALLY FOR SOUTH CAROLINA

Activists are planning activities nationwide for Thanksgiving week to support South Carolina. To learn more and plan to participate, contact:

Karen Bates, State Co-Chair- Campaign To End AIDS- SC, 803-750-5259, scaplwa@aol.com

Michael Emanuel Rajner, National Secretary- Campaign To End AIDS, (954) 272-8131 or (305) 677-3506.

ON AN ADAP WAITING LIST?

The Housing Works AIDS Issues Update is reported, written and edited by Diana Scholl, David Thorpe, Phil Fox Rose, Christine Campbell, terri smith-caronia and Housing Works staff. Send your feedback, leads and story ideas to d.scholl@housingworks.org.

You can reach us by phone at 212-967-1500 x168, by fax at 212-868-4222, and by email at d.scholl@housingworks.org. Housing Works provides housing, advocacy and services to homeless people living with AIDS and HIV. Housing Works is the nation's largest community-based AIDS organization and the nation's largest minority-controlled AIDS organization.

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