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President's Budget Shows Continued Neglect
of AIDS Epidemic
Proposal increases abstinence-only programs, while cutting HIV prevention and care
New York, NY/Feb. 4, 2008 — In his final executive budget, President Bush has once again shown his failure to provide leadership against the domestic AIDS epidemic. His budget priorities betray a complete disregard for people living with HIV/AIDS in the United States, and an ongoing disregard for preventing new infections. Incredibly, the President proposes a $28 million increase to harmful abstinence-only education, programs which are dangerously ineffective and fiscally wasteful.
"President Bush has shown utter neglect of the AIDS epidemic that continues to ravage communities across this country," said Marjorie J. Hill, PhD, Chief Executive Officer of Gay Men’s Health Crisis (GMHC). "It is clear from this budget, as well as from eight years of failed leadership, that this President has misplaced priorities. The President proposes to either cut or flat-fund critical programs for research, HIV prevention and care, while continuing to call for increases in harmful programs like abstinence-only education."
Young people ages 15-24 account for almost half of all new HIV infections reported in the United States each year. Since 1996, the federal government has spent over a half billion in taxpayer dollars on abstinence-only programs, despite numerous federal, state and independent evaluations showing the programs to be counterproductive. The programs promote moralistic gender-based stereotypes and anti-gay bias, instead of sharing life-saving, science-based information. Most significantly, these programs have proven to be harmful to the very people they are supposed to protect.
The executive budget for Fiscal Year 2009 essentially maintains funding for Ryan White CARE Act at current levels, ignoring the growing needs of people who are living with HIV and AIDS longer and longer. The Ryan White CARE Act provides funding to improve the quality and availability of care for individuals hit hardest by the epidemic: low-income, uninsured, and underinsured people living with HIV/AIDS.
A breakdown of funding for major agencies and programs shows
- $28 million INCREASE for ineffective and harmful abstinence-only education
- $2 million DECREASE in funding for the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) programs for HIV/AIDS, viral hepatitis, sexually transmitted infections, and tuberculosis
- $8 million DECREASE for programs in the communities most severely affected by the HIV/AIDS epidemic
- $1 million in additional funding for Ryan White CARE Act, essentially maintaining the same funding levels as FY 08
- No increase for HIV/AIDS research at the National Institutes of Health
In addition, the President’s budget proposes to reduce the rate of growth over the next ten years for Medicaid and Medicare, the first and second top public payers of HIV/AIDS care in the U.S. Over that period of time
- Medicare faces cuts totaling $556.4 billion
- Medicaid cuts are estimated at $46.7 billion
"President Bush's domestic AIDS policies have been an abject failure," continued Dr. Hill. "We know that the CDC will soon release data showing that HIV infections are up as much as 50 percent since the start of the Bush Presidency. Data already show significant increases among gay and bisexual men. The proposal to cut CDC prevention funding by $2 million in the face of these data is just incomprehensible."
"The President’s budget will harm people living with HIV/AIDS while neglecting the HIV prevention needs of the next generation," added Dr. Hill. "This Administration has consistently prioritized ideology over science. It is unconscionable that the price for that willful neglect will be paid by new infections and additional suffering."
Gay Men's Health Crisis (GMHC) is a not-for-profit, volunteer-supported and community-based organization committed to national leadership in the fight against AIDS. Our mission is to reduce the spread of HIV disease, help people with HIV maintain and improve their health and independence, and keep the prevention, treatment and cure of HIV an urgent national and local priority. In fulfilling this mission, we will remain true to our heritage by fighting homophobia and affirming the individual dignity of all gay men and lesbians. We provide services and programs to over 15,000 men, women and families that are living with or affected by HIV/AIDS in New York City, and outreach and education to hundreds of thousands throughout the world. For more information, please visit www.gmhc.org.
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© 2008 Gay Men's Health Crisis
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