The Chicago City Council voted Nov. 15 to increase HIV prevention funding by $500,000. The funding, proposed by Mayor Richard M. Daley, is part of the 2007 city budget.
City funds set aside for HIV prevention increased from $3,729,500 in 2006 to $4,229,500 for 2007. Funding for HIV prevention hasn't been increased since 2003. The increase is crucial to a large city like Chicago while state and federal funding for HIV prevention plummets.
The Chicago Department of Public Health decides how the funds are allocated.
'As HIV prevention advocates, we think it's important to fund the most effective interventions. We know there is a real gap, or is going to be a real gap, in needle-exchange funding,' AIDS Foundation of Chicago ( AFC ) Director of State Affairs John Peller told Windy City Times. 'We hope that some of the proposed exchange cuts can be reversed next year.'
According to Peller, another key priority identified by AFC and the community is reversing the elimination of faith-based and school-based programs, which are crucial routes to educating communities not generally reached. Innovative intervention methods are important during a time when three-fourths of new HIV infections in Chicago are among people of color.
When the mayor's budget was first introduced last month, it did not include an increase for such funding. Local AIDS activists rallied together to push the city to increase HIV prevention funding. At a recent budget hearing, AIDS activists appeared wearing red ribbons and stickers demanding $1.7 million for HIV prevention. According to AFC, $500,000 would be needed just to keep up with the rate of inflation.
Ald. Tom Tunney ( 44th ) led the City Council's efforts to increase funding by introducing an ordinance on Nov. 1, and gathering 36 aldermen to jump on board as co-sponsors.
AFC plans to continue the momentum built this year to ensure HIV prevention funding is a priority for the 2008 city budget, Peller said. 'Our community partners have had a number of meetings with aldermen and are continuing existing relationships and building new ones. We plan to continue to coordinate and work with community partners and community advocates to make sure this stays on the top of the aldermen's and the mayor's agenda.'