Copyright 2000 The Atlanta Constitution
The Atlanta
Journal and Constitution
October 6, 2000, Friday, Home Edition
SECTION: News; Pg. 6C
LENGTH: 420 words
HEADLINE:
Change in AIDS funding may mean more money for Georgia
BYLINE: Gracie Bonds Staples, Staff
SOURCE: CONSTITUTION
BODY:
Georgia will benefit from a bill Congress passed Thursday reauthorizing the
Ryan White CARE Act for AIDS funding.
The bill would
provide more than $ 1 billion a year for AIDS prevention and treatment, and for
the first time, factors in HIV infection as well as AIDS cases in determining
how federal money will be distributed.
The legislation was passed 411-0
by the House on Thursday and sent to the president for his signature.
Tony Braswell, executive director of AID Atlanta, said the change should
mean a net increase in funding to Georgia.
"I don't know how much. The
math, though, makes sense if we're going to count more live cases and more
HIV-positive people and dedicate more resources to those people," he said. "We
should see the funds shift to the areas that represent the new face of AIDS,
which is the Southeast and largely rural and minority populations."
But,
for each AIDS case, Georgia spends "about 25 percent as much as San Francisco
and about half as much as New York," he said.
Supporters say the new
funding distribution will mean more money for programs that help infants, women,
minorities and people in rural areas. But it met some resistance from lawmakers
representing districts with large numbers of gay men who feared losing funds.
Jacque Muther, administrative director of the pediatric and adolescent
HIV program at the Grady Infectious Disease Program, said she supports most of
the changes she has seen.
"There are several changes that we've all been
working toward and been advocating for during this reauthorization process,''
said Muther. "It's been a real battle."
The new funding formula "will
more closely reflect the actual epidemic in our community and our state, which
should put us in line for additional funding,'' she said.
Without the
funding, Muther said the public health infrastructure at Grady and throughout
the nation would be destroyed, "so the good news is we're not going to have to
shut down. ''
The original bill approved by the House would have cut
funding for San Francisco, which has a large gay population, by nearly $ 40
million over five years. In the final compromise, the negative impact on San
Francisco was reduced to about $ 7.5 million over five years.
The
legislation specifically approves $ 20 million for programs to reduce HIV
transmission from mothers to their babies and $ 30 million for programs to
encourage those infected with HIV to notify their partners.
The
Associated Press contributed to this article.
LOAD-DATE: October 6, 2000 
