AIDS Action Urges Quick Passage of Ryan White CARE Act Reauthorization

Contact: media@aidsaction.org or call: 202-530-8030

Washington, DC -- AIDS Action today praised the bipartisan efforts of Representatives Tom Coburn (R-OK) and Henry Waxman (D-CA) to craft legislation to reauthorize the Ryan White CARE Act. The bill, to be introduced later today in the House of Representatives, would continue a successful private-public partnership enabling community-based organizations to provide health care, counseling, and social services to low-income Americans with HIV and AIDS.

"AIDS Action supports this bill, and that's a testament to the hard work of so many people who worked to craft it -- not least the staffs of Representatives Coburn and Waxman," said Claudia French, acting executive director at AIDS Action. "We will work hard for its quick passage, and for a reauthorization bill that the President can sign this year."

The CARE Act was passed in 1990 after the death of Ryan White, the young Indiana activist who fought for an end to discrimination against people with HIV and AIDS. Reauthorized once in 1996 with overwhelming bipartisan support, the Senate earlier this month unanimously passed legislation reauthorizing the CARE Act.

"Time and again we are impressed at the bipartisanship surrounding this successful program. Members from both sides of the aisle have put politics aside to ensure that low-income Americans, who are hit hardest by the epidemic, receive the unique care, social services, and drug assistance provided by community-based organizations across the country," said French.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimates nearly 1 million Americans are living with HIV and AIDS. While deaths from AIDS have declined in recent years, new infections have remained steady at 40,000 per year. Recent data suggests the infection rate is increasing among certain groups, and that the dramatic drop in the rate of deaths from AIDS has slowed.

Please direct all calls to:

Denis J. Dison
Director of Communications
AIDS Action
1906 Sunderland Place, NW
Washington, DC 20036
202-530-8030 ext. 3065