Thanks, Mitch, for bringing home the bacon!

The scope of the problem:

As the recession drives more people into the Kentucky AIDS Drug Assistance Program, federal funding has stagnated and state funding has disappeared. Currently, 1,277 people are enrolled in the program. Nearly 100 people are on a waiting list that started in June.

"We have 20 to 30 people coming in every month, and everyone who comes in goes on the waiting list," said Sigga Jagne, the state's HIV/AIDS program manager. "Everyone who is on the waiting list now, we don't know how long they're going to be there. Nobody is coming off the list at this point."...

Demand for assistance from the drug program is rocketing during the recession as Kentuckians lose their jobs and insurance, Jagne said.

Mitch's solution:

...federal funding has dropped from about $4.8 million in 2005 to $4.5 million this year. State funding — about $250,000 a year — ended in 2007

Amazing, but somehow not surprising. Hard to contribute money to a political cause when you are worried about paying for lifesaving medications. Or food. Or shelter.

The short, but important read here.

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