South Carolina: Death of AIDS Patient Stirs Group to Hold Rally

Ahead of a meeting of the State Budget and Control Board and following the death of a fourth patient awaiting help, activists will rally today for $3 million in emergency funds to end the waiting list for South Carolina's AIDS Drug Assistance Program (ADAP).

"As people living with this virus...we have a personal interest. We want the list to end because it's our friends and families that are dying," said Karen Bates, co-chairperson of the South Carolina Campaign to End AIDS (SCCEA), which organized the rally. "Every time we hear about another person being added to the waiting list or another person dying, we know that 'this could be me tomorrow.'"

Today marks the second time in three days the group has gathered to protest the waiting list: It held a rally Sunday in front of the Governor's Mansion. Bates said SCCEA wants a commitment from board members, and especially the governor, that they will ask the General Assembly to approve the emergency funding.

Meanwhile, the South Carolina HIV/AIDS Care Crisis Task force plans to talk individually to lawmakers about immediate and long-term solutions to the ADAP problem. According to officials from the Department of Health and Environmental Control, around $8 million is needed from the state annually to meet ADAP's needs.

Members of the task force will highlight the negative economic impact HIV/AIDS has on the state and the benefits of investing in prevention and early treatment. As of Nov. 29, 324 patients were on South Carolina's ADAP waiting list.

Back to other news for December 12, 2006