AIDS body applauds US Senate move

The USA's AIDS Healthcare Foundation, the largest AIDS health care, prevention and education provider in the country, which operates free AIDS treatment clinics domestically and in Africa, Latin America/Caribbean and Asia, including 14 health care centers in California and Florida, has lauded the US Senate for its passage by unanimous consent of the Ryan White CARE Act (RWCA, or the CARE Act), the federal law that provides the primary source of funding for AIDS care and services nationwide.

The bill, which was originally up for reauthorization in September 2005, has languished since this past September when, according to the Kaiser Family Foundation Daily HIV/AIDS Report, "Congress...adjourned without the Senate passing a measure to reauthorize the CARE Act. Five senators, including those from New Jersey and New York State, blocked Senate consideration of a House-approved bill (HR 6143) sponsored by Rep Mary Bono (Republican, California) that would change CARE Act funding formulas so that rural areas experiencing increasing numbers of HIV/AIDS cases receive higher funding amounts, which would decrease funding allocated to urban areas."

"We congratulate the Senate for removing the roadblocks that have held up passage of the Ryan White CARE Act over the past two years and applaud its approval of this groundbreaking revamp of this lifesaving national AIDS program," said Michael Weinstein, the AHF's president. "With the passage of this bill, distribution of funds for AIDS care and services will better reflect the trajectory of the disease nationwide, and we are grateful to those legislators who have shown real leadership in steering this legislation through to passage thus far," he added.