January 9, 2008

Hispanic Group Pulls Out of Arizona HIV/AIDS Program

While Hispanic Americans represent one of the fastest growing at-risk groups for HIV infection, Arizona AIDS service organization Chicanos Por La Causa will no longer be serving positive people in Maricopa County due to a lack of necessary funds, The Arizona Republic reports (azcentral.com, 1/9).

According to the article, the group was scheduled to receive $284,992 this fiscal year through the federal Ryan White CARE Act, up from last year’s $256,908. However this federal funding is not enough to sustain HIV programming—including medical care, psychological services and case management—beyond February of this year. The group has taken on between 50 and 100 clients at a time for the past seven years.

“We’re disappointed that we’re not able to continue the program,” the organization’s CEO Edmundo Hidalgo told The Arizona Republic. “Obviously there was a lot of hurt. There were a lot of clients that were very upset, very disappointed. But you have to do an evaluation and determine the viability of a program and services. This was the best decision for CPLC.” Until the contract ends next month, services will be shifted to other organizations temporarily.

The article notes that Hispanics currently represent 23 percent of Arizona’s 12,000 HIV cases.

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Previous Comments:

peter1900, , 2008-07-30 02:43:34
The program is very useful and we must think about it also it is not just the money matters. The Prevention Program is responsible for funding a wide variety of general and targeted prevention programs throughout Arizona.The largest portion of the Care and Services Program is The Arizona AIDS Drug Assistance Program (ADAP). ============== peter

Doug, Seattle, 2008-01-10 12:37:50
Just another example of the Republican administration dropping the ball for tax paying people. This is a total discrase but we have become use to it in the last 6 years.

Alfredo, Baltimore, 2008-01-09 20:01:40
This news saddens and dissapoints me. Is something better than nothing? At the same time, is all that the Latino/Hispanic PLWHA get is left overs? I'm not sure why this funding wasn't enough to keep the program going, but I'm hoping collaborative agencies offer culturally sensitive and competent services.