the original version of this document can be found here

At a meeting today with members of the President's Advisory Committee on HIV/AIDS, the CDC/HRSA Advisory Committee on HIV and STD Prevention and Treatment and a broad range of stakeholder organizations, HHS Secretary Mike Leavitt called on Congress to reauthorize the Ryan White CARE Act in ways that will strengthen the program, support compassionate care and treatment, and encourage prevention efforts.

"President Bush has made stemming the spread of HIV/AIDS a top priority of his Administration, and the Ryan White CARE Act is essential to the fight against this terrible disease here at home," Secretary Leavitt said. "This act must be improved and modernized so we can bring compassionate care and treatment to those Americans living with HIV/AIDS. We urge Congress to reauthorize this vital legislation this year."

Secretary Leavitt announced that President Bush has outlined five key principles to make the legislation more responsive to those in need. These principles include:

• Serve the neediest first;
• Focus on life-saving and life-extending services;
• Increase prevention efforts;
• Increase accountability; and
• Increase flexibility.

For example, under these principles, funding would be distributed by severity of need; unspent funds would be reallocated to state AIDS drug assistance programs with the greatest need; a list of core medical services would be developed to prioritize federal funding; states and local providers would be required to increase coordination of delivery of care; and states would be required to implement routine voluntary HIV testing in public facilities.

"I am pleased to see the President's solid framework for the reauthorization of the Ryan White CARE Act, which the Administration is unveiling today. The general principles outlined are very similar to the ones we on the HELP Committee adopted when we began our work on this key legislation," Senator Mike Enzi (R-Wyo.) said. "I look forward to working with the Administration, Senator Kennedy, my colleagues and stakeholders in a bipartisan and bicameral way to reauthorize this critical program. Together, we will develop crucial legislation that will appropriately target key funding to domestic HIV/AIDS programs, increase accountability, and recognize the evolving needs of those infected and affected by HIV."

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This entry was posted on Wednesday, September 21st, 2005 at 3:41 pm and is filed under CARE Act.