CALIFORNIA VS. AIDS

Governor's budget for drugs is helpful, but education is
crucial

A clue to the changing nature of the AIDS epidemic is evident in Gov.
Gray Davis' proposed state budget for the 2002-03 fiscal year. Despite
the revenue shortfalls the state faces, the budget calls for a
substantial increase in spending for the AIDS Drug Assistance Program.

State money and a federal match will bring to $184.5 million the total
available to help uninsured California AIDS patients buy medications
- -- almost double the amount when the program began five years ago.

For the roughly 26,000 people the program will help, this is great
news. Powerful and expensive new therapies have extended length and
quality of life for many AIDS patients. But the disease is still
fatal, and the new therapies don't work for all. Meanwhile, the wily
virus is mutating into drug-resistant strains faster than science can
keep up.

Prevention and education are still essential. But on that score,
Davis' proposed budget is flat. He calls for $36 million for education
and prevention and $10 million for HIV counseling and testing next
fiscal year, same as this year. Other elements of society must take up
the slack, and there's a lot of slack to be taken up.

A study released this month by the Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation
revealed that physicians fail to offer HIV tests to about 40 percent
of pregnant women, despite federal guidelines calling on them to offer
the test to all pregnant women. The same study notes that about a
third of HIV-positive Americans don't even know they're infected.

Battling pressure from conservative groups, parents and educators
should insist that schools offer comprehensive sex education courses;
local governments should create needle-exchange programs, which have
been demonstrated to reduce HIV transmission without increasing drug
use; and churches and ethnically oriented social groups should reach
out to high-risk populations.

The deadly nature of AIDS is known to all. Yet, the United States
experiences about 40,000 new infections a year. It is the leading
cause of death for African Americans ages 25 to 44, and the third
leading cause of death for Hispanic Americans in that age range.

It's good that federal and state governments are helping to pick up
the tab for the expensive drugs that prolong life. The rest of society
must pitch in to reduce the number of people who end up needing those
drugs.