More than 1,600 people on ADAP waiting lists

The number of people on waiting lists nationwide for AIDS Drug Assistance Programs has jumped by nearly 400 people since April, up to 1,629 as of the beginning of June, according to the latest "ADAP Watch" released Monday by the National Alliance of State and Territorial AIDS Directors. "We are alarmed to see the number of people on waiting lists for medications through ADAPs rise in such a short period of time," NASTAD executive director Julie Scofield said in a press statement. "This is such a severe crisis in which many states are struggling desperately to provide these life-saving medications to people in need. The difficult decisions state ADAPs are being forced to make to keep programs solvent are contrary to good public health." According to the report, 11 states--Alabama, Alaska, Arkansas, Colorado, Idaho, Iowa, Kentucky, Montana, North Carolina, South Dakota, and West Virginia--have ADAP waiting lists or other access restrictions because of budget shortfalls. Nine states implemented other cost-saving strategies since April, and 10 others are expected to add new or additional cost-control measures, including waiting lists, tightened eligibility requirements, spending caps, and reduced drug formularies, by the end of the 2004 fiscal year, which ends March 31, 2005, according to the report.