NJ, Ten Other States Plan Cuts in Anti-HIV Drug Programs
by KYW's Karin Phillips
The slow economy is causing cuts in government funding for anti-HIV drugs. New Jersey is one of eleven states either closing programs or cutting eligibility rolls.
At least eleven states around the country are seeing reductions in the federal AIDS Drug Assistance Program ("ADAP") and are closing programs and/or raising eligibility standards.
On August 1st the State of New Jersey plans to cut 600 people from its eligibility list. Keith Egan is president and CEO of the South Jersey AIDS Alliance:
"You're putting people in a bad situation and, in the long run, it's probably going to cost money."
Egan says that without the medications, people with HIV are more likely to develop full-blown AIDS. There's also a higher risk that they can transmit the virus or get sick enough that they will need expensive hospitalization.
Other AIDS organizations say pharmaceutical companies are helping with a compassion program, but some HIV patients will likely fall through the cracks.
Pennsylvania is not one of the states making cuts in HIV drug programs due to ADAP cutbacks.
