San Francisco AIDS Foundation - Federal Watch

FEDERAL WATCH CDC Revises HIV Incidence Estimate After a year of delay awaiting publication in a peer-reviewed journal, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) published its new methodology in the August 6 issue of the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA) and revised its estimate of the number of annual HIV infections in the United States to 56,300—an upward adjustment of 40% over the long-established 40,000 figure. Read more Congress Delivers Moves and Stalls on Key HIV Legislation Prior to Presidential Election Despite the lowest approval rating in recent memory and deep, bitter partisan divides, the Congress used its legislative days prior to the August recess to introduce and pass legislation important to the AIDS community. On July 30, Congressman Jose Serrano (D-NY) introduced H.R. 6680, the "Community AIDS and Hepatitis Prevention Act," which would allow federal funding of syringe exchange programs to prevent the transmission of blood-borne diseases like HIV and hepatitis. The bill was referred to the House Energy and Commerce Committee, which also has jurisdiction over the Ryan White HIV/AIDS Treatment Modernization Act of 2006, expiring next September. Read more STATE WATCH Fiscal Year 2008-2009 Budget Impasse As was previously reported in the March/April 2008 Policy Watch, Governor Schwarzenegger's January proposed budget included sweeping cuts to public health care programs—cuts that will be especially problematic for low-income Californians living with HIV/AIDS who depend on public support for medication and medical care. These cuts directly affect programs at the State Office of AIDS, as well as broader-based health care programs such as Medi-Cal. Read more Update on Key HIV Bills As the 2008 legislative session comes to a close, three important HIV/AIDS-related bills have made significant progress but are currently being held back from the Governor's desk because of the budget impasse. Frustrated over the lack of a spending plan for the state, Governor Schwarzenegger has said that he will veto every bill presented. As a result, lawmakers are forced to hold onto their bills while the budget morass continues and hope that a compromise is reached before September 30, the deadline for bills to be signed in order to become law in 2009. After that deadline passes, bills can still be signed as late as November 30, but they will not go into effect until January 2010. Read more CONFERENCE UPDATE Demand for "combination HIV prevention" and long-overdue acknowledgement of high HIV prevalence among men who have sex with men (MSM) were recurring themes at the 17th International AIDS Conference, held August 3–8 in Mexico City. Read more

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