State AIDS Cuts to San Francisco Near $4 Million

State funding to San Francisco for HIV prevention and testing will be cut 82 percent, or $2.4 million, according to documents recently released by the California Office of AIDS. State budget cuts have left San Francisco with a loss of at least $4 million for HIV/AIDS care and prevention services for fiscal 2009-10. The city will receive just 14 percent of its previous allocation of state funding for AIDS treatment.

San Francisco and Los Angeles will lose half of their normal state AIDS allocations, which will be redistributed to 15 jurisdictions that are also facing hard-hitting epidemics. California AIDS officials could have cut all funding to Los Angeles and San Francisco, which both receive federal AIDS funding directly. Many counties make virtually no contribution to HIV/AIDS, said Dana Van Gorder, executive director of Project Inform.

At press time, San Francisco's Department of Public Health had not yet informed local AIDS service providers how their contracts would be affected. City HIV prevention director Dr. Grant Colfax reportedly told organizations on a conference call that SDPH will be operating with just 25 percent of what had been expected from state funding, and 46 percent of what had been budgeted from city general funds.

City supervisors have set aside some funds in their budget to backfill state cuts. AIDS advocates have been especially lobbying Sup. Bevan Dufty for help, said Kyriell Noon, executive director of Stop AIDS. However, state cuts have left children's health care, mental health, and substance-abuse programs all competing for local relief, he said. "It's a horrible dance," Noon added.

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