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A $3.4 million grant from the
federal government will help Alabama move 122 people off the waiting list for
the AIDS Drug Assistance Program and into treatment. “It will allow us to keep
people on medication and off the waiting list until March 30, 2013,” said Jane
Cheeks, state AIDS director at the Department of Public Health.
Just over $1 million of the money will go to
an insurance program for Medicare Part D, which will benefit 85-90 patients.
The subsidized Medicare prescription drug plan for qualified individuals helps
keep them off the waiting list, Cheeks said. The rest of the money will go
toward eliminating the ADAP waiting list.
The length of time the wait will be
eliminated is “definitely longer than I thought,” said Kathie Hiers, CEO of
AIDS Alabama. She noted, however, that with 900 new HIV infections in the state
annually, the need eventually will outpace this latest funding. Cheeks said
people have been waiting on help from the program for two years, even with a
cap on the number of people permitted into it. “Now we’ll have no cap and no
waiting list,” she said.
The Friends of AIDS Foundation is
dedicated to enhancing the quality of life for HIV positive individuals and
empowering people to make healthy choices to prevent the spread of the HIV
virus. To learn more about The Friends of AIDS Foundation, please visit: http://www.friendsofaids.org.
TOGETHER WE REMAIN STRONG!
