Denver rally
calls for more Ryan White funding

AIDS activists held a rally in Denver on Tuesday to urge federal lawmakers to significantly boost spending for AIDS services when they renew the Ryan White CARE Act, the Rocky Mountain News reports. The act expires on September 30. While lawmakers aren't expected to address its renewal for several months, they are expected this week to pass a stopgap measure that keeps funding programs at current levels until the legislation is renewed.

The rally, supported by the Denver Mayor's Office of HIV Resources and AIDS service organizations throughout Colorado, marked the beginning of a national initiative called the Campaign to End AIDS (C2EA), which includes rallies in several U.S. cities and will end with a gathering in Washington, D.C., in November.

Activists say President Bush has proposed flat-funding virtually all programs supported by Ryan White, except for inadequately small increases for the nation's AIDS Drug Assistance Programs and prevention efforts targeting minorities. Flat-funding the programs will severely hamper efforts to treat and support the more than 1 million Americans estimated to be living with HIV, according to the activists. They also say the Bush administration's proposals to prioritize funding for treatment programs will result in drastic cuts for supportive programs--like those providing housing and emergency financial services--across the country.

"We want prevention, not politics," Walt Senterfitt, an AIDS advocate from Los Angeles and cochair of C2EA, told the News about what HIV-positive people hope to see during the Ryan White reauthorization process. "We need to get out in front in funding. We cannot be a catastrophe we have to live with for the rest of our lives." (Advocate.com)