Clinton Underfunds Prevention in 2001 Budget

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Washington, DC -- AIDS Action expressed disappointment at the Clinton Administration's Fiscal Year 2001 AIDS budget released today, which included a small but insufficient increase in HIV prevention funding. For the past several years, AIDS Action has been leading the fight for an end to flat HIV prevention funding, which could slow the 40,000 new infections each year.

The FY2001 budget proposal includes a $50 million increase in prevention funding, half of what AIDS Action considers necessary for any meaningful new investments in HIV prevention. AIDS Action had been pressing the Administration for an end to flat prevention funding and, while the budget provides an increase, it's only slightly more than last year's increase.

"They've gone from closing their eyes on prevention to giving it a passing glance," said Claudia French, AIDS Action's acting executive director. "While the $50 million increase is a positive sign, it won't support the kind of investments needed to slow the 40,000 new infections each year."

Indeed, an article in the January 3rd edition of U.S. News and World Report said the Clinton Administration was developing a plan to increase the federal investment in HIV prevention by $100 million, which is what AIDS Action said was necessary for a first step toward reinvigorated prevention. AIDS Action's team of policy experts will fight for the full $100 million when the House and Senate consider the budget.

On the care and treatment side of the AIDS budget, AIDS Action supported a request for a $125 million increase in Ryan White CARE Act funding, the lifeline of support to community service organizations as well as a $1 billion increase in biomedical research. The investments in the CARE Act and research during the Clinton Administration have contributed to the deployment of life-prolonging treatments, which have helped halve the AIDS death rate.

"While our investment in care and treatment has resulted in lower death rates, our divestment from HIV prevention has allowed HIV to continue spreading unchecked," added French.

Jeanne White, the mother of Ryan White and AIDS Action national spokesperson expressed disappointment at the White House's failure to make a meaningful investment in prevention.

"Ryan's legacy is for increased prevention efforts so that every young person knows how to protect themselves from HIV," said White. "The new AIDS budget fails to make the kind of investments needed to fulfill Ryan's vision of an HIV-free generation of young people.