California: More Funds Sought for Local HIV Tests

An increase in positive HIV tests has prompted Desert AIDS Project (DAP) to request additional testing funds from the Riverside County Department of Public Health.

According to DAP, positive test results peaked at 15 percent one month in 2008. The average local rate is about 5 percent, compared with the national average of 1 percent. The group, which provides medical care and comprehensive support services to people living with HIV/AIDS in the Coachella Valley, tested more than 1,800 people in 2008.

DAP officials say they have spent almost all of the $25,000 the county earmarked for testing this fiscal year. Riverside County's HIV/AIDS program chief, Victoria Jauregui Burns, said DAP will get a timely response to its funding request. "They reach the population that we need to reach," she said. Palm Springs has one of the largest gay populations per capita in the United States.

"It is something that we are definitely concerned about, but it's not surprising," Burns said. "It isn't alarming because we know that their service area is greatly impacted by HIV."

"We know that people change their behavior once they know that they are carrying the virus and go into treatment," said David Brinkman, DAP's executive director. "The great way to prevent the spread of the virus today is to get everybody tested."

"If we can't get money for testing for the next six months, the rate of increase will be dramatic," Brinkman said.

Back to other news for January 2009