AIDS Funding: 'An Epidemic of Waste?'
By Matt Pyeatt
CNSNews.com Staff Writer
February 15, 2002

Washington (CNSNews.com) - AIDS activists will converge on Washington
Friday, demanding more tax dollars for various prevention and treatment
programs, but one government watchdog group says about $1 billion in
federal AIDS money has already been wasted.

What's needed is wiser spending of AIDS-related money, not an increase in
spending, according to the group, Citizens Against Government Waste
(CAGW).
CAGW Thursday released its special report, "AIDS Programs: An Epidemic Of
Waste," which systematically shows how federal funds meant for AIDS
programs have allegedly been misallocated, mismanaged and wasted.
"Overall, we found about $1 billion, about 7.7 percent of the $13 billion
in total federal AIDS funding, that is being mismanaged and wasted,"
Thomas A. Schatz, president of CAGW, said. "We believe that it would be
more compassionate to take the money that is being wasted and provide it
to the people who truly need it."

The CAGW report offers a detailed look at the history of AIDS in the
United States, but it is the scathing assessment of the taxpayer-funded
AIDS programs that stands out.

Included in the report are several examples of the misuse of federal
funds. For example, Positive Force, a San Francisco AIDS prevention group,
receives $1 million annually from the Centers for Disease Control (CDC).
According to CAGW, Positive Force offers flirting classes and, last July,
hosted a workshop on how to have anal intercourse even while suffering
from diarrhea. Diarrhea is a common side effect of the AIDS virus,
according to the report.

On February 28, the Stop AIDS Project of San Francisco, which received
nearly $700,000 from the CDC, will host "GUYWATCH: Blow by Blow," the CAGW
report stated. The advertisement for the seminar reads, "What tricks do
you want to share to make your man tremble with delight?"

Another alleged misuse of federal funding in the fight to stop AIDS
occurred in Tampa Bay, Fla., where the non-profit Tampa Hillsborough
Action Plan (THAP) "rang up nearly $1,000 in meal charges in a three-week
period and were also afforded the use of sport utility vehicles," the CAGW
said.

THAP's top executives also received four season tickets for Tampa Bay
Buccaneers, Tampa Bay Devil Rays and Tampa Bay Lightning professional
sporting events, according to the report, at a time when "THAP owed nearly
$25,000 in delinquent payroll taxes." THAP receives $450,000 a year from
the federal government to provide housing to people with AIDS, the CAGW
report shows.
Aids activist Wayne Turner, the co-founder of ACTUP DC! joined Schatz at
Thursday's news conference and agreed it's necessary to stop the abuse of
federal funds earmarked for AIDS programs.

"As an AIDS activist, someone who has lost a partner to AIDS, I can say
that it is so important that people living with and dying from this
disease have access to the services necessary to keep them alive," Turner
said.
"We've been on the forefront of fighting for more money for AIDS and
fighting for these programs and demanding passionate and humane treatment
for those who suffer from this disease," Turner said. "But, there is
another part of that coin when you ask for more money, which has been
poorly addressed in the twenty years of the AIDS epidemic."

Turner said it was important to make sure the money was efficiently used.

"This is a federal problem. There is a federal responsibility to insure
that AIDS money is spent appropriately and helps people," Turner said.

Turner brought along a tote bag, from which he pulled a water bottle, key
chain and other trinkets that he said were paid for with AIDS funding. He
called on AIDS programs to quit wasting money on such items and to start
helping people.

"There are real people who are falling through the cracks in the system,"
Turner said.