California lawmakers are investing an additional $ 13 million to implement a plan to end the combined epidemics of HIV, hepatitis C and sexually transmitted infections. The double-digit increase comes as health officials fear spikes in STIs after social distancing restrictions imposed to fight COVID-19 are lifted.
That’s less than the $ 19 million health advocates asked for and state lawmakers initially added to the budget. Gov. Gavin Newsom, who did not allocate any additional funding to end the three epidemics interwoven in his budget proposal, signed the budget bill that included the money on July 16.
A budget bill spelling out exactly how the California Department of Public Health should spend and / or allocate funding, Assembly Bill 133, is still awaiting the governor’s signature. This includes using the AIDS Medication Assistance Program rebate fund to help cover the cost of PrEP navigation and retention services to help low to moderate income HIV-negative people continue to use this drug. take medicines that help prevent the transmission of HIV.
There is no amount specified in the budget, although it is expected to be in the millions of dollars.
“Ultimately, the final budget will include an additional $ 13 million ongoing for the CRPD for HIV, STI and hepatitis harm reduction programs,” said Craig Pulsipher, associate director of government affairs. for APLA Health in Los Angeles.
As specified under AB 164, the state needle exchange center receives an additional $ 3 million, while STD programs will receive $ 4 million in ongoing funds. An allocation of $ 1 million will be used to purchase hepatitis C testing kits.
In the final budget, $ 2.8 million was set aside for drug treatment programs to, among other things, provide testing for HIV and hepatitis C. An allocation of $ 7 million also did not survive to provide STI services through the state’s Family PACT program for those who are not at risk of experiencing or causing an unwanted pregnancy. This would have opened the program to LGBTQ people who do not need family planning help.
But the budget includes $ 5 million for demonstration projects on aging HIV targeting longtime survivors of HIV and AIDS. The funding comes as a new law targeting this demographic awaits Newsom’s signature.
State lawmakers last week sent the governor Senate Bill 258 drafted by gay state senator John Laird (D-Santa Cruz). It will include older people living with HIV as part of the “greatest social need” population for programs and services administered by the California Department of Aging.
“As the drug cocktail has transformed the fight against HIV and there are more older people living with HIV than ever before, older people living with HIV face a number of behavioral health challenges in addition to physical illnesses, ”Laird said. “By reducing the burden of connecting this vulnerable population to aging support services and programs, this bill provides another lifeline to help this particularly disadvantaged group. “
Tez Anderson, executive director of Let’s Kick ASS-AIDS Survivor Syndrome, called on Newsom to sign the bill after the assembly voted 70-0 on July 15 to send it to their office.
“As a person living with HIV since 1983, I thank the Assembly for passing SB 258 – the law on HIV and aging – recognizing that older people living with HIV face challenges. unique and profound as a population with “greatest social needs”. For too long, survivors of the AIDS pandemic have been neglected and forgotten, ”Anderson said. “None of us imagined growing old, but more than half of all Californians living with HIV are aging and in dire need of social services and programs that address our physical and mental health.”
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