California: Activists Call on Governor to Maintain Funding for AIDS Drugs

On World AIDS Day, JWCH Medical Clinic officials in Los Angeles called on Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger to maintain AIDS Drug Assistance Program funding proportionate to the need.

Schwarzenegger's budget proposal includes capping ADAP spending and creating a waiting list if client demand exceeds available funding. California's ADAP helps cover the cost of HIV/AIDS medication for those earning less than $50,000 a year. Treatment officials said the plan could be devastating, since the number of AIDS cases in California is increasing.

"The governor has the money, and we're urging him to spend it," said John King, executive director of the Weingart Center, a nonprofit medical and housing organization.

There were 132,988 people in California with AIDS as of Oct. 31 -- an increase of 5,000 over the last 12 months -- according to the state Department of Health Services.

In San Francisco, about 100 people gathered under a tent in the National AIDS Memorial Grove, a seven-acre wooded basin in Golden Gate Park, to pay tribute to those affected by AIDS.

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