Oklahoma will receive almost $6 million from the Ryan White CARE Act to provide medical care, prescription drugs and support services for people with HIV/AIDS. "These grants will help us ensure that Oklahoma residents living with AIDS can get the care and services they need to say healthy longer," U.S. Secretary of Health and Human Services Tommy Thompson said in a statement. While the federal grant for $5,923,857 is critical for meeting the needs of state residents with HIV/AIDS, "the need still far outweighs our resources," said Jean Ann Van Krevelen, executive director of Regional AIDS Interfaith Network-Oklahoma. In Oklahoma, HIV cases among gay men remained level or declined slightly, but recent increases have been recorded among the state's black, Hispanic and American Indian populations. State Health Department records show that 5,382 Oklahomans have HIV.

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