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"AIDS Funds: More Anger; Gotbaum Blames City Agency for $14 Million Cut in
Federal Aid"
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Newsday (New York City) (04.02.03)::Margaret Ramirez
Calling its performance "reprehensible," Public Advocate Betsy Gotbaum
on Tuesday became the latest public official to blame New York City's health
department for a $14 million cut in federal AIDS funds. The city's share of federal Ryan White Title I funds,
which help pay for AIDS care in the cities hit hardest by the epidemic, were
slashed by 12 percent - from $118 million last year to $104 million this year.
In a statement, Gotbaum said, "The New York City Department of Health's
failure to demonstrate severe need for a city with the highest number of AIDS
cases in the country and maintain supplemental funding is reprehensible. The
city's failure to simply submit required paperwork on time does not only cost
money, it costs lives."
Several advocates and public officials have blamed the cut on the health
department, saying its application for most of the funds was poorly prepared,
with some supporting materials arriving late. Health Commissioner Thomas Frieden has denied that the city's
application was at fault.
Mayor Michael Bloomberg said Sunday the city will fight for the funds.
"We have a commitment to cut the number of AIDS infections by 50 percent by
2005. I want to meet that commitment. We have plenty of people who are
HIV-positive or have AIDS and we've got to make sure that we take care of
them," Bloomberg said.
The HIV Planning Council, a panel that decides how New York City's Ryan
White funds are distributed, will meet Thursday to discuss how to deal with
the funding cut.
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