AIDS Action Urges Congress To Resist Complacency Spurred By Promising AIDS News

WASHINGTON, D.C. - Daniel Zingale, AIDS Action's executive director, told members of a U.S. House of Representatives appropriations subcommittee last week that while new AIDS drug therapies are keeping more people with HIV/AIDS alive and healthy, the AIDS epidemic is far from over.

Zingale urged the Labor, Health and Human Services appropriations subcommittee to recommend fiscal year 1998 AIDS program funding levels that maintain the federal government's investment in AIDS research, care, and prevention and education.

Zingale credited tough choices and wise investments with helping to bring about declining AIDS death rates and an unprecedented sense of hope. He emphasized that "if we invest in today's hope - in HIV prevention and education, in the care provided through Ryan White, and in the National Institutes of Health to take us to the next level of research breakthroughs Ñ we may be able to take pride in having helped to bring about a true end to the AIDS epidemic sooner than anyone believed possible."

Zingale argued that Congress should demonstrate its commitment to ensure that new hope touches the lives of all American by increasing funding for federal AIDS programs. Zingale outlined the following needs:

• Research. AIDS Action recommends a $134.5 million increase over FY97 funding for AIDS-related biomedical and behavioral research at the National Institutes of Health.

• Ryan White CARE Act. AIDS Action proposes a $393.9 million increase over FY97 funding for medical, social service and training programs provided through the Ryan White CARE Act.

• Prevention and Education. AIDS Action proposes a $212 million increase over FY97 funding for the CDC's HIV prevention and education programs.

• Substance Abuse Prevention and Treatment. AIDS Action proposes a $140 million increase over FY97 funding for the Substance Abuse Prevention and Treatment Blockgrant at the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Administration.

For more information, contact:

Joe Zuñiga, AIDS Action
(202) 986-1300 Ext. 3042

AIDS Action Council
1875 Connecticut Avenue NW #700
Washington DC 20009
202-986-1300, extension 3053
202-986-1345 (fax)
202-332-9614 (tty)
E-Mail: aidsaction@aidsaction.org