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WASHINGTON -- House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., failed to get
a provision included in the Ryan White Extension Act that would
have permanently protected San Francisco's federal HIV/AIDS
funding.
The House on Wednesday approved $2.35 billion in Ryan White
funding, named after a young Indiana AIDS activist who contracted
the virus through a blood transfusion and died in 1990. The Senate
approved the same measure on Monday.
Pelosi now is attempting to secure separate funding through an
appropriations process to mitigate the city's loss of more than $5
million to combat HIV/AIDS. A proposed House Labor and Health and
Human Services appropriations bill could restore roughly $5.3
million to San Francisco, a Pelosi aide said.
Pelosi, while praising the passage of this year's extension of
the Ryan White Act, criticized Senate Republicans for procedural
objections that took away San Francisco's funding.
San Francisco has been losing AIDS funding since the 2006
reauthorization of the act, which sought to balance funding between
regions like the Bay Area that have had high AIDS burdens and
regions such as the South with a mounting number of cases. More
money is now being distributed proportionately to rural areas and
places with high HIV rates.
"If California and New York can get more money, then God bless
them," said Lynda Dee, the executive director of AIDS Action
Baltimore.
Baltimore has a large AIDS burden and will receive roughly the
same amount of funding this year as last year, Dee said.
Dee added that while she supports giving more money to places
with growing burdens, she understands why people like Pelosi are
working to maintain their districts' funding.
Dee also attacked politicians in the South for not pushing for
AIDS grants.
"It's terrible because people in the South may not be getting
what they need, but then they should vote for someone else," Dee
said.
Mark Cloutier, the CEO of the San Francisco AIDS Foundation,
said that by reducing awards for San Francisco, the government is
taking away treatment from people who depend on it.
Both Cloutier and Dee said that there needs to be more HIV/AIDS
funding overall so that everyone who needs aid receives it,
especially as the number of AIDS patients continues to grow.
"Five percent isn't even a catch-up," Cloutier said, referring
to the 5 percent increase in total awards Congress authorized.
Since 2006, Pelosi has squeezed extra funding out of the
appropriations process every year to mitigate the city's Ryan White
losses. Last year, San Francisco received $7 million under an
appropriations bill.
The 2009 reauthorization eliminates the provision that set an
end date for funding. It also grants states like California that
are transitioning from a code-based to a name-based HIV record
system a grace period to finish the switch before losing any
funding.
A national name-based record will help the Centers for Disease
Control gain a more accurate count of the number of people who are
afflicted by HIV, Cloutier said.
The funding helps 500,000 HIV/AIDS patients gain access to care.
The funding is especially vital in California where state
HIV/AIDS dollars have been significantly reduced, said Rep. Lois
Capps, D-Calif.
Rep. Barbara Lee, D-Calif., said that while Ryan White
appropriations provide necessary funding, the government needs to
do more to combat the epidemic, especially among people of color.
She also said that Congress needs to discuss comprehensive sex
education and needle exchanges if it is going to take on AIDS.
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(E-mail: drew@hearstdc.com)
