Arkansas ADAP faces budget crunch

The Arkansas AIDS Drug Assistance Program is facing a budget shortfall of nearly $903,000, and it's unclear whether state lawmakers will allocate any funds to help fill the budget gap, the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette reports. The state contributed $660,000 to the ADAP in 2001 but allocated no funds in 2002 or 2003. Health officials say the program may have to implement a waiting list for new applicants if additional funding isn't granted, a move that Jeanne White-Ginder, mother of Ryan White, called "totally unfair" during a two-day AIDS conference in Little Rock last week. AIDS activists plan to lobby lawmakers to grant funding to the program this year to help avoid such restrictions.