November 19, 2009

The Honorable Arnold Schwarzenegger
Governor of California
State Capitol Building
Sacramento, California 95814
RE: Full Funding for the AIDS Drug Assistance Program

Dear Governor Schwarzenegger:

We are writing to demand full funding for California’s AIDS Drug Assistance Program (ADAP) in FY 2010-2011.ADAP is the cornerstone of California’s public health effort to fight HIV/AIDS. Failure to fully fund the program will leave thousands of Californians at risk for more severe illness and even death. Underfunding could also cause a public health disaster and significantly limit the state’s ability to prevent new HIV infections. Reductions in ADAP will cost the state millions more in future health care dollars than any savings realized in
the near term. Cuts in ADAP will also increase burdens on our already-taxed
emergency rooms and other safety net providers who are not equipped to deal effectively with HIV and AIDS. More than 34,000 low-income uninsured and underinsured Californians depend on ADAP for life-saving medications.

Reduction in ADAP services will lead to advanced HIV disease, increased co-morbidities and even premature death for Californians living with HIV.
Medications provided by ADAP can help prevent transmission of HIV. People on
effective treatment regimens can reduce their viral load (the amount of HIV detected in the blood) to undetectable levels which makes them less likely to transmit the virus to others. For every new HIV infection we prevent, the state saves an estimated $600,000 in lifetime treatment costs.

California cut essential life-saving state HIV/AIDS programs by some $85 million last year. The cuts vastly reduced the state’s capacity to prevent, treat and serve the estimated 160,000 Calfornians living with HIV/AIDS. Any cuts to ADAP will leave many living with HIV no access to life-saving drugs and Californians at risk vulnerable to a renewed spread of the virus.

We urge you to show leadership in your FY 2010 -2011 budget proposal by fully funding ADAP. People with HIV and people at risk for HIV must not be asked to pay for state budget cuts with their health and their lives.

Sincerely,

• AIDS Emergency Fund


• AIDS Legal Referral Panel


• AIDS Project Los Angeles


• AIDS Service Center


• American Academy of HIV Medicine, California Chapter


• Asian and Pacific Islander Wellness Center


• Behavioral Health Services, Inc.


• Black Coalition on AIDS


• Bienestar Human Services. Inc.


• California Conference of Local AIDS Directors


• California Positive Womens Network


• Center for AIDS Research, Educations, and Services of Sacramento


• Charles Drew University of Medicine and Science HIV/AIDS Education
  and Outreach Projects
  


• City of Los Angeles, AIDS Coordinator’s Office


• City of Pasadena Public Health Department


• Common Ground-The Westside Community Center


• County of Los Angeles, Department of Public Health, Office of AIDS
  Programs and Policy


• Desert AIDS Project


• Face to Face/Sonoma County AIDS Network


• Foothill AIDS Project


• HIV ACCESS Alameda County, CA


• HIV Health Services Planning Council-San Francisco


• HIV Health Services Planning Council-Sacramento


• Immune Enhancement Project


• Los Angeles County HIV Drug & Alcohol Task Force


• Los Angeles County HIV Mental Health Task Force


• Los Angeles County Commission on HIV


• Leland House, Catholic Charities CYO


• Lutheran Social Services of Northern California


• Martin Luther King/Multi-Service Ambulatory Care Center - OASIS Clinic


• Mental Health America of San Diego County


• North County Health Services, Inc.


• Northeast Valley Health Corporation


• Positive Resource Center


• Project Inform


• San Francisco AIDS Foundation


• San Francisco Community Clinic Consortium


• Sonoma County Commission on AIDS


• Sonoma County People with AIDS Advocacy Committee/Reconnect
  Action Committee


• STOP AIDS


• Strong Consulting


• Van Ness Recovery House


• Women Organized to Respond to Life-Threatening Disease