FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
September 21, 2007
S.C. AIDS drug assistance program waiting list eliminated
COLUMBIA – Persons living with HIV in the state who need the AIDS Drug Assistance Program no longer have to contend with a waiting list to get the medications they need, the S.C. Department of Health and Environmental Control reported today.
“We have eliminated the waiting list for the ADAP program,” said Lynda Kettinger, director of DHEC’s STD/HIV division. “A lot of hard work by our staff has gone into eliminating the waiting list. They deserve the credit along with the state legislature and Governor’s office for approving additional funding to accomplish our goal.”
Kettinger said South Carolina’s waiting list had reached a high of 567 in April.
“With the additional $4-million in state funding, we had hoped to get everyone into the ADAP program by the first of January 2008,” Kettinger said. “Thanks to our staff’s efforts, we were able to cut out the waiting list even earlier. We are now processing new applications and expect most people will be enrolled quickly.”
Kettinger said while the waiting list was in place DHEC staff and local HIV providers worked with applicants to get them into other programs that temporarily provided at least some of the medications needed to treat HIV and its associated conditions.
Kettinger said ready access to HIV treatments keeps people healthy, allowing many patients to live 30 years or more after their diagnosis.
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For more information:
Thom Berry – (803) 898-3885
E-mail – berrytw@dhec.sc.gov
BNR1799