The Bottom Line Is People Are Dying : AIDS funding is at risk as some in Congress turn penny-wise and pound-foolish

Despite an impressive roster of more than 60 Senate co-sponsors, important AIDS funding faces an uphill battle on Capitol Hill. That’s because the money provided by the Ryan White CARE Act is threatened by congressional budget slashers intent on reducing outlays no matter how penny-wise and pound-foolish that might be.

Proponents of the Ryan White measure--named for the Indiana teen-ager who died after being infected through a blood transfusion--are asking the Senate to maintain current funding for five years by renewing the act in a vote scheduled for today. Adjusted for inflation, that comes to about $633 million per year. If the legislation is passed, Congress still will have to provide the money later. Given the growth of the epidemic, maintaining the status quo in funding is hardly asking too much.

Consider that since AIDS was first identified in the early 1980s, it has become the leading killer of U.S. adults from 25 to 44 years old. The HIV virus, which can be in the body for a decade or longer without causing symptoms, continues to expand among heterosexuals, especially in minority communities. African Americans and Latinos now combine to form a majority of all U.S. cases. The disease also maintains a stronghold among at-risk populations such as homosexuals and intravenous drug users. In addition, infection rates are climbing for adolescents and women.

The Ryan White CARE Act, first authorized by Congress in 1990, has provided valuable federal funding for organizations that provide medical care, food and nutrition programs, mental health counseling and housing assistance. In so doing, the measure has eased pressure on an overwhelmed health care system, especially here in Los Angeles County, which receives more than $36 million in federal money for treatment.

Despite the congressional support it enjoys, the Ryan White act faces a serious problem in the form of poison pill amendments that are expected to be introduced by Sen. Jesse Helms (R-N.C.). In the past, Helms sought to deny federal funding to AIDS organizations because of what he called their support for homosexuality. The misguided Helms also claims that federal AIDS spending far outstrips that for heart disease and cancer. The fact is that $36.3 billion a year is spent for heart disease and $16.9 billion for cancer but only $6 billion for AIDS.

Experts predict that by the end of the century the number infected with the AIDS virus will top 1 million. Lawmakers must face medical facts. They must renew the Ryan White CARE Act, and then fund it.