Although preliminary reports from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) show that the number of new AIDS cases in the US increased last year by eight percent, AIDS organizations are being forced to increase services with less funding. "We have been able to help everyone who comes to us for care," says Chris Butler, executive director of AIDS Project Rhode Island (APRI), "but we fear we will not be able to in the future if there is no increase in funding."

The Bush Administration has flat-funded for two years the Ryan White CARE Act, which funds local governments and organizations that care for people affected by HIV/AIDS. And although the administration allocated more HIV/AIDS money in the 2003 budget, support for abstinence-only programs was increased by 33 percent.

"Obviously, abstinence is the best method for preventing HIV," says Butler, "but we know, after doing this for 20 years, that that is not a message that works for everybody." A study conducted for Congress by the Mathematica Policy Research Institute found no evidence that abstinence-only programs prevent teen sex, pregnancy, or disease. Meanwhile, methods that mention abstinence with contraceptives are medically proven as effective, according to the Alan Guttmacher Institute. But Butler, who already has to consult the Rhode Island Department of Health whenever APRI creates a brochure or poster with explicit content, says, "I fear that in the future, federal-funded programs will only let us promote abstinence."

HIV/AIDS organizations fear a national a backlash against prevention programs because of recent reports by DC-based Citizens Against Government Waste (CAGW), which cites instances of "waste, fraud, abuse, and mismanagement of federal AIDS funds." But while CAGW recommends cutting funding for HIV-prevention programs with sexual content, prevention organizations cites this material as an important part of getting the message across to a sexually active audience.

APRI is focusing its advocacy and prevention efforts on reaching minorities, because of the high incidence of HIV and AIDS in men and women in the African-American, Latino, and Asian-American communities. While race and ethnicity are not risk factors in themselves, they sometimes combine with limited economic resources and unequal access to health-care to cause the more frequent incidence. "This is why APRI's services are so valuable," notes Butler. "We would love to do a statewide campaign on billboards and buses, but there really isn't enough money. So we target very specific groups and programs."

Issue Date: May 24 - 30 2002