Chuck Schumer: “This amendment increases the funding levels of all titles contained in the Ryan White CARE Act by a total of $401…”

“This amendment increases the funding levels of all titles contained in the Ryan White CARE Act by a total of $401 million, with $214 million specifically going toward the AIDS Drug Assistance Program, commonly referred to as ADAP. The CDC estimates that nearly 900,000 people are living with HIV in the United States, and among those are 362,000 who are living with AIDS. Forty percent of the new estimated HIV infections each year occur in the New York City metropolitan area. So obviously this has great importance to us. Adolescents, women, and minority communities are particularly hard hit by this epidemic. Over 80 percent of the new estimated HIV infections in women occur among African-American and Latino populations. In the last 10 years alone, the number of AIDS cases among women has more than tripled, and every hour in this country two people under the age of 25 become infected with HIV. Now the interesting thing here is, this is not just limited to New York. Cleveland, OH, and Atlanta, GA, have been named as two hot spots for this growing trend in the increase in AIDS and HIV, particularly among women.”