Aids patients could see less aid

[Judi Lynn]

Aids patients could see less aid
Thursday, September 14, 2006
By ALEXANDER MacINNES
HERALD NEWS

PATERSON -- Rosita Martinez is illiterate and doesn't know her own age.

There are two important things she does know, however. The first is that she's got AIDS and the second is: "I don't want to die."

Martinez -- a former heroin user who found out she had AIDS four years ago -- is one of more than 2,000 people in Paterson living with HIV or AIDS who are dependent on treatment and social services that could be at risk from federal funding cuts.

This week Congress is reauthorizing the Ryan White Comprehensive AIDS Resource Emergency Act -- an important funding source for local AIDS groups. If approved as is, local AIDS advocates predict a 40 percent cut in the support network that provides treatment and social services for low-income patients like Martinez.

A delegation of AIDS activists from Bergen and Passaic counties traveled to Washington, D.C., Monday to fight those proposed cuts. They returned to New Jersey, alarmed that 22 agencies in Passaic and Bergen counties that provide non-medical services to patients could face significant reductions or even closure.
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http://www.northjersey.com/page.php?qstr=eXJpcnk3ZjczN2Y3dnFlZUVFeXk1NyZmZ2JlbDdmN3ZxZWVFRXl5Njk5MTY1NSZ5cmlyeTdmNzE3Zjd2cWVlRUV5eTI=

[xchrom]

1. you can't get your war on and provide

social services for society's at risk folk.

you can't provide for society's at risk folk with people in charge who hate government.

you can't provide for society's at risk folk with people who don't really care about their well being.

now that's a trifecta.

and btw -- ryan white already has seen cuts in funding and it's already affecting people.

[OzarkDem]

2. They are so fortunate to have that program

I hope they don't lose it.

OTOH, cancer patients don't have this kind of assistance. We routinely see women discharged from hospitals after a mastectomy to homeless shelters, still in their hospital gowns with JP drains attached. A couple of months ago, we found a woman in this situation living under a bridge downtown because she didn't want to stay in the shelter.

It's not unusual for cancer patients to move from home to home of friends and family, sleeping on couches while going through treatment. About a third of the breast cancer patients in our area get their food from food pantries, who are also running out of food. Workers at shelter don't bother to make sure patients are going back for chemo and radiation treatments.

Sick, poor people have become disposable in the US.

[bluestateguy]

3. Conservatives want these people to die. They think it's "God's punishment"

I'm serious.