Federal Funding Cut Threatens Southern New Hampshire AIDS Program

Low-income HIV/AIDS patients in southeastern New Hampshire who receive their medicines under the state's AIDS Drug Assistance Program (ADAP) could soon be placed on a waiting list due to a looming $1 million federal funding cut in the next fiscal year.

According to the Boston Public Health Commission (BPHC), which distributes federal AIDS money for ADAP in the area, Stafford, Rockingham, and Hillsborough counties will likely be affected. About 70 percent of people with HIV/AIDS in New Hampshire live in the three counties.

State Public Health Director Mary Ann Cooney said officials are meeting with AIDS organizations to discuss the impact on ADAP. "There is a potential for a waiting list. We have not made any determinations yet," she cautioned.

Placing HIV/AIDS patients on a waiting list for medicines would have dire consequences, said Anne Rugg, executive director of Portsmouth's AIDS Response Seacoast. "If there is a waiting list ... some people will die," she said. Kathy Deslilets, the state's HIV prevention manager, stressed that medicine is the agency's top priority. "That's what's really keeping people alive in this epidemic."

Richard Stevens, director of the AIDS Program at BPHC, disputed the need for the New Hampshire ADAP to institute a waiting list. The state has received more than enough money to prevent a waiting list, he said.

Back to other news for October 31, 2006