Proposed state budget would gut HIV prevention, treatment and care

What: Bay Area people living with HIV/AIDS and HIV/AIDS service providers will hold a press conference at San Francisco City Hall and then travel to Sacramento for a rally at the state capitol to protest proposed cuts to HIV/AIDS prevention and treatment services. Californians from all over will speak out against these drastic cuts that jeopardize lives and threaten to reverse years of progress in the fight against HIV/AIDS.

When/Where: Wednesday, June 10

10 a.m. to 10:45 a.m.: Press conference on the steps of San Francisco City Hall.

1:30 p.m. to 3 p.m.: Rally at the State Capitol Building.

Who: Speakers at the rally will include Carina Aguilar, a 14-year-old San Francisco resident living with HIV and a client of the San Francisco AIDS Foundation’s El Grupo Latino support program, who will talk about the importance of HIV/AIDS prevention services for California youth; Pauli Gray, the Foundation’s community educator, who will discuss syringe exchange and innovative HIV prevention programs. Other service providers, HIV-positive people and legislators will appear as well.

Why: Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger is proposing a revised budget that slashes HIV/AIDS programs by $80.1 million. The cuts would virtually eliminate state funding for HIV testing, prevention, education and support services as well as cut support for the AIDS Drug Assistance Program, risking the health of thousands and endangering millions of dollars in federal matching funds.

Sponsoring organizations: San Francisco AIDS Foundation, AIDS Housing Alliance/SF, Asian & Pacific Islander Wellness Center, Project Inform, STOP AIDS Project and Women Organized to Respond to Life-threatening Disease (WORLD), have partnered with STOP the HIV Cuts/Los Angeles to take action against Governor Schwarzenegger’s proposed budget cuts.

For more information: www.sfaf.org

Contact: Debra Holtz, media relations manager at the San Francisco AIDS Foundation, (415) 487-3071.

Background: The San Francisco AIDS Foundation provides leadership to prevent new HIV infections. Linking community experience with science, the Foundation develops groundbreaking prevention programs and bold policy initiatives to promote health and create sustainable progress against HIV. Established in 1982, the Foundation refuses to accept that HIV transmission is inevitable.