Florida ADAP Program Saved�For Now

Thousands of HIV-positive people almost found themselves bounced off Florida's AIDS Drug Assistance Program, but a last minute intervention by drug company Welvista has saved the day.

Florida, in the midst of an extreme budget crisis, ran out of money for the program which is funded by both the federal and state governments. More than 6,000 ADAP recipients came close to losing their government-provided medications until Welvista agreed this week to provide free anti-retroviral drugs to Florida.

Florida already has thousands on waiting lists for the ADAP program, and are in desperate need of federal assistance for the program‹new federal funding for ADAP becomes available April 1.

"We clearly recognize this is a one-time, emergency rescue of a program that cannot be repeated or duplicated by Florida or any other state," Lynda Dee, a spokesperson for the Fair Pricing Coalition, which helped broker the deal, told the Miami New-Times. "We therefore implore the federal government and all state governments, especially Florida, to provide adequate funding to state ADAPs to meet the medication needs of its uninsured people living with HIV."

Florida has the nation's third highest AIDS case rate.