   
August 28, 2009
San Francisco Officials Delay HIV/AIDS Funding Cuts
San Francisco health officials have postponed cutting contracts with AIDS service organizations (ASOs) until mid-October, according to the Bay Area Reporter.
The extension will give the city’s Board of Supervisors time to decide how to use the $18 million it set aside in anticipation of the state’s budget deficit. It will also gives ASOs and lawmakers time to explore alternative revenues.
About $2.3 million out of a $4 million cut by the state will be deducted from San Francisco’s HIV prevention programs, which is an 83 percent reduction. The local cuts arrive amidst a statewide financial crisis in which Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger slashed state AIDS funding in half
Items that will be given priority include funding for HIV testing and counseling services, prevention for HIV-positive people and treatment programs for gay men addicted to meth, said Grant Colfax, MD, MPH, who is the director of the San Francisco Department of Public Health (SFDPH).
“I think ultimately it is up to the supervisors on whether or how they would want to restore some of the reductions that have been made,” Colfax said. “We are at risk of losing our 25 years of top-notch HIV prevention in this city.”
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