Adventures in the World of Travel and Entertainment™ / Greater Palm Springs
Coverage of the Desert AIDS Project's Rally Against California's Proposed Budget Cuts of HIV/AIDS Funding - Palm Springs - June 10, 2009
California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger (R) on Tuesday, May 26, 2009, sent state lawmakers a plan to reduce more than $5 billion in spending, including significant cuts to HIV/AIDS services.
The proposal slashes $55.5 million from California's AIDS Drug Assistance Program and other state Office of AIDS programs. Schwarzenegger's plan would make HIV-positive people pay more for drugs, while HIV/AIDS programs such as counseling, monitoring and education would be reduced or eliminated altogether.
The budget cut proposals come at a time when the federal government is instituting a National AIDS Strategy in recognition of the imperative to reinvigorate the fight against HIV in the United States.
In California, an estimated 20% of HIV-positive Californians are unaware of their HIV status. Of those who know their status, approximately 20% are not in care. The health of 150,000 Californians living with HIV as well as the lives of those at risk of infection would be seriously endangered by these cuts. It is no exaggeration to say that these proposed budget cuts are life-threatening for thousands of people.
From David Brinkman, MBA, Executive Director, Desert AIDS Project:
I am deeply concerned about the Governor's May budget revision proposal which would, if passed, end HIV/AIDS treatment for nearly 35,000 Californians, our neighbors who rely on the AIDS Drug Assistance Program for life-saving medication, eradicating years of progress against HIV and putting lives at risk.
I'm also alarmed by the Governor's plan to remove State support for HIV prevention including HIV testing, AIDS education in schools, rural HIV programs, and funds that provide housing to people living with AIDS. His proposed budget will also slash health insurance for low-income families, devastate family planning, and terminate in-home supportive services for the elderly and disabled.
The budget is woefully short-sighted, robbing the State of hundreds of millions of dollars in federal support. As you know, if California fails to deliver on its commitments, Washington, D.C. will deny our matching funds, jeopardizing virtually every federal benefit that supports the health of people living with HIV and irrevocably altering our capacity to prevent new infections.
This budget will have an unimaginable effect on the health of hundreds and thousands of Californians. Preserving HIV funding is good health policy, responsible fiscal stewardship, and compassionate leadership at a time when the populations living with and at the highest risk of HIV infection need your help the most. Please demonstrate your compassion and fiscal responsibility by protecting HIV prevention, care, and treatment funding in the upcoming budget revision debate in Sacramento.
Click here to take action!
Find more photos like this on ActionEqualsLife.com
SEVEN Videos Follow:
(Apologies to anyone not featured...camera ran out of memory).
Intro Video From Nicholas Snow
The proposal slashes $55.5 million from California's AIDS Drug Assistance Program and other state Office of AIDS programs. Schwarzenegger's plan would make HIV-positive people pay more for drugs, while HIV/AIDS programs such as counseling, monitoring and education would be reduced or eliminated altogether.
The budget cut proposals come at a time when the federal government is instituting a National AIDS Strategy in recognition of the imperative to reinvigorate the fight against HIV in the United States.
In California, an estimated 20% of HIV-positive Californians are unaware of their HIV status. Of those who know their status, approximately 20% are not in care. The health of 150,000 Californians living with HIV as well as the lives of those at risk of infection would be seriously endangered by these cuts. It is no exaggeration to say that these proposed budget cuts are life-threatening for thousands of people.
From David Brinkman, MBA, Executive Director, Desert AIDS Project:
I am deeply concerned about the Governor's May budget revision proposal which would, if passed, end HIV/AIDS treatment for nearly 35,000 Californians, our neighbors who rely on the AIDS Drug Assistance Program for life-saving medication, eradicating years of progress against HIV and putting lives at risk.
I'm also alarmed by the Governor's plan to remove State support for HIV prevention including HIV testing, AIDS education in schools, rural HIV programs, and funds that provide housing to people living with AIDS. His proposed budget will also slash health insurance for low-income families, devastate family planning, and terminate in-home supportive services for the elderly and disabled.
The budget is woefully short-sighted, robbing the State of hundreds of millions of dollars in federal support. As you know, if California fails to deliver on its commitments, Washington, D.C. will deny our matching funds, jeopardizing virtually every federal benefit that supports the health of people living with HIV and irrevocably altering our capacity to prevent new infections.
This budget will have an unimaginable effect on the health of hundreds and thousands of Californians. Preserving HIV funding is good health policy, responsible fiscal stewardship, and compassionate leadership at a time when the populations living with and at the highest risk of HIV infection need your help the most. Please demonstrate your compassion and fiscal responsibility by protecting HIV prevention, care, and treatment funding in the upcoming budget revision debate in Sacramento.
Click here to take action!
Find more photos like this on ActionEqualsLife.com
SEVEN Videos Follow:
(Apologies to anyone not featured...camera ran out of memory).
Intro Video From Nicholas Snow
Part 1 of 6:
Part 2 of 6:
Part 3 of 6:
Part 4 of 6:
Part 5 of 6:
Part 6 of 6:
Comment
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Comment by juan-mannuel alonso on June 10, 2009 at 11:10pm -
if cuts take place may as well send everyone to a concentration camp. no help equals death for many at the same time, no education equals more death. are we ready as a planet to survive another holocust?
without help most people who are possitive as well as those negative are at risk. we the world couldn't suvive without each others help. it is time that us as a unit get together and do whatever is possible to stop the cuts for services all across the board.
do we as a human race want to go back to the pass? after all the work yhat has been done to get to where we are at the moment we couldn't afford to go back to the begining once again.
people, lets get our act togehter. respond and wake up. all of us have been at sleep for much too long. its time to wake up and act up now take the risk of not beeing here the same time next year! it is our choice as a democratic nation to do something about it! remember free speech and all of the rest. do not continue in silence and respond to the call of what is happening to our society at the moment. now is when we should be more together then ever.
with peace and love,
juan-manuel.
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