Kentucky: No Wait for AIDS Drugs

HIVers in Kentucky on the state's AIDS Drugs Assistance Program no longer have to wait for lifesaving treatment, unlike in other states in which thousands are asked to bide their time until drugs can become available to them.

In September all 306 people who had been on a waiting list were enrolled in the Kentucky Department of Public Health's AIDS Drugs Assistance Program, according to the Kentucky Post. Improved program efficiencies, pharmaceutical rebates, and supplemental funding from the federal government allowed the state to eliminate the wait list.

The program now serves a total of 1,500 people in the state. Kentucky is somewhat of an anomaly in the South, as 3,765 people, or 93% of those on ADAP waiting lists nationwide, are from Southern states.