HIV/AIDS Funding At Risk?
by Christine Stuart | July 1, 2009 4:34 PM
Posted to Health Care
| State Capitol
When Gov. M. Jodi Rell signed a $1.3 billion executive order Tuesday to keep government running while a budget deal is negotiated she failed to fund at least four programs which help individuals living with HIV and AIDS.
Shawn M. Lang, director of public policy with the CT AIDS Resource Coalition, said the news came as a surprise to advocates who rely on the state funding to operate programs, such as the needle-exchange program that helps prevent the spread of HIV among drug users.
“It was a very, very poor decision,” Lang said Wednesday afternoon in a phone interview.
“These funds pay for services that are not available through any other state service,” Rev. John P. Merz, executive director of the CT AIDS Resource Coalition, said in a press release. “We’re wondering where the governor wants injecting drug users to dispose of their used syringes, or where people who lose their housing due to these cuts should go to sleep tonight?”
Lang said she doesn’t know how much of a supply the five needle-exchange programs have, but if there’s no funding for the program then nobody will be traveling around in vans distributing and collecting needles from drug users.
She said the more than $450,000 it costs to run this program for an entire year is not going to help the state balance a more than $8 billion budget shortfall.
While the needle-exchange program has been targeted in Rell’s budget proposal for elimination, Lang said the program is scientifically proven to prevent the spread of HIV among drug users. In general, she said the program usually takes in more syringes than it distributes.
And state funding for the program is vital because the federal government does not fund needle-exchange programs, she added.
But funding for more than just needle-exchanges was left out of the governor’s executive order, Lang said. She said there was no funding for HIV prevention programs, emergency housing, and other services.
Jeffrey Beckham spokesman for Rell’s budget office said Wednesday that all four programs usually receive payments at the end of July. He said if the governor needs to sign another executive order in August then all four programs will receive their funding in the first week of August.
Comments (8)
Posted by: RoseGardenCT | July 1, 2009 4:58 PM
Head of the Governor's Office of Public Rellations, Kris Kaper, said:
"AIDS/HIV? The governor's budget includes a lot of difficult and painful cuts. It's not SHARE THE PAIN something she wants to do. Gov. Rell has been trying SHARE THE PAIN to grapple with a $8 billion deficit. The SHARE THE PAIN governor believes the right way to approach this is for government to do the same things families and SHARE THE PAIN businesses are doing--cut back. Democrats talk a good game, but increasing taxes on the wealthy only SHARE THE PAIN gets you one-third of the way there. Our budget SHARE THE PAIN proposal shrinks the size of SHARE THE PAIN government and government must do what families and SHARE THE PAIN business across the state SHARE THE PAIN are doing -- cut spending. Government must be SHARE THE PAIN part of the solution. The fact is that the Democrats have been dysfunctional in the face of this unprecedented budget crisis. They SHARE THE PAIN have accomplished absolutely nothing and have shown zero leadership during the three months lawmakers have been SHARE THE PAIN in session. Dissembling, delaying and diverting attention will not SHARE THE PAIN balance the budget."
Posted by: m | July 1, 2009 7:40 PM
Simply awful.
Though of course, on the scale of the entire state government, even minor changes will catch some people up in a downward spiral -- the single parent whose increased bus fare leads to a bounced check and then eviction, the nursing home patient who gets one fewer bath a week and gets an infection that touches off a final decline, etc.
It doesn't make me feel good that there may be more HIV infections because the Governor wanted to save multimillionaires 1% on their tax bill, or that those relying on the treatments will suffer because of Rell's desire to maintain her poll numbers (actually, with the medical marijuana veto, it wouldn't even be the first time). But the approach she's offering necessarily crushes marginalized groups, and it had to happen to somebody first.
Posted by: ACR | July 2, 2009 6:46 AM
No matter what gets cut, even by a little; will cause much screaming wailing and moaning.
Bet on it.
The fact is infrastructure of Connecticut's entire charitable network is damaged more by high taxes than it is due to any government aid cuts.
People can't do anything for others when they're already drowning themselves.
Posted by: Shawn M Lang | July 2, 2009 12:31 PM
The truth is that we offered a list of cuts to AIDS services that would help with the state's budget crisis. The governor, apparently, had other ideas which will have a negative impact on the state's public health policies.
Posted by: Bob | July 2, 2009 1:56 PM
"We're wondering where the governor wants injecting drug users to dispose of their used syringes," If they can afford drugs they can afford new needles.
Posted by: iBlogWestHartford | July 2, 2009 3:33 PM
Bob!
Bob!!
Don't sit down!!!
("Yeooooowwwwwwwwww!!!!")
Damn... too late...
911? It's about Bob....
Posted by: Dazodiak | July 6, 2009 4:29 PM
Who said that only drug addicts suffer from AIDS? Man, some people here are just very ignorant.
Posted by: Jim | July 6, 2009 5:00 PM
Well most here are right families in this state have giving a lot.
Families with elderly parents have seen thier rest homes close and haveing to bring mom and dad home.
Families that need help have seen it dry up.
Families of state workers have seen $700 million evaporate from thier budgets from the sacrifices they have made.
the only ones that haven't made a sacrifice are the wealthy.
As Coach Calhoun would say not a DIME.
Although I believe coach would be happy to give a little more in income tax to help the citizens of CT. Most of the other wealthy wont.
When thier world crashed they got $800 billion from us to make sure they got that nice big bonus check and they were sooo happy they gave us nothing back.
Isn't that the american way where it's ok to have a nanny state as long as the babys are rich.
And that argument that they will leave.
Please do it in the middle of the night so we don't have to say good bye, just leave.
My parents always told me nothing in life is free, I guess that haven't met the rich in CT.