South Carolina lawmakers have approved the allocation of $2.4 million through the federally funded AIDS Drug Assistance Program (ADAP), which will provide treatment for low-income people living with HIV, local newspaper The State reports (thestate.com, 5/8).

“We have finally, as a state, come to grips with HIV/AIDS and are willing to put resources to stem the spread of this disease,” state representative Joe Neal told The State.

This is the second year in a row that lawmakers have approved new funding for the state’s ADAP; last year’s allocation was $4 million.

According to the article, about 800 people are diagnosed with HIV each year in South Carolina, a state that has had one of the highest infection rates in the country for the past 10 years.