Federal AIDS funding cuts 'devastating' -- Calif.

[donsu]

http://sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2004/03/04/BAGL65E0M71.DTL

The Bush administration slashed San Francisco's federal AIDS budget by more than $4 million, a 12 percent cut and one of the biggest in the nation, which local health officials fear could land more people in the emergency room.

Oakland was hit with a 5.9 percent reduction in federal funding, and San Jose saw a 5.1 percent decrease.

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In San Francisco, with about 15,000 AIDS and HIV patients -- the largest caseload in the Bay Area -- the funding cuts will affect legal aid, meal programs, transportation subsidies, substance abuse treatment and alternative health care, such as acupuncture and herbal remedies, according to James Loyce Jr., the San Francisco's Department of Public Health deputy director, who oversees the AIDS office.

"The cuts are huge,'' Loyce said. "There's no way in the world I can tell you that the loss will not hurt. These are the kinds of services that keep people out of the hospitals and emergency rooms.''
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the article shows what aid went up and whose went down and over all it went down.

health care is going to crash