Broward ask feds for $17.6m in AIDS funds

http://www.expressgaynews.com/2006/9-30/news/localnews/funds.cfm LOCAL NEWS Broward asks feds for $17.6 M in AIDS funds Commissioner Diana Wasserman-Rubin may be appointed to HIV Planning Council Saturday, September 30, 2006 Broward County will ask the federal government for $17.6 million in Ryan White AIDS funding for the fiscal year beginning March 1, 2007. The Broward County Commission approved the grant application at its Sept. 26 meeting. The $17.6 million request is an increase of more than $2.5 million over what the federal government provided to the county last year, Commissioner Diana Wasserman-Rubin said. At the meeting, Michael Rajner, national secretary for the Campaign to End AIDS, spoke out against an income cap that he said will make it more difficult for people to qualify for Care through the Ryan White program. The Broward County HIV Planning Council recently approved the income cap, which limits access to the program to those with incomes of $29,400 per year or less. Rajner noted that Broward County “has the highest HIV infection rate in the nation per capita.” Of the estimated 23,000 Broward residents living with HIV/AIDS, “an estimated 6,000 are living without primary medical care for various reasons,” Rajner said. During the meeting, Wasserman-Rubin said she had requested to serve on the Broward HIV Planning Council and that Mayor Ben Graber had promised to appoint her to the panel. Rajner said he was pleased that Wasserman-Rubin would be attending the planning council meetings. In the past, he has sharply criticized the county’s elected officials for what he described as a lack of involvement in the planning council.