AIDS Grant Makers Mustn’t Reduce Support

To the Editor:

What troubles me most about Meg Sommerfeld’s article “Foundations’ Support of AIDS Organizations Appears to be Waning” (April 22) is that the foundations who are most educated about the AIDS epidemic are the ones who seem to be missing the point that a decline in AIDS deaths does not translate to a decline in the need for services.

In fact, with new infection rates on the rise and the effectiveness of existing combination therapies on the decline, the population of people living with AIDS who will rely on the support of AIDS organizations will, in all likelihood, exceed anything we’ve seen to date. The notion that the AIDS crisis is over may ultimately be one of the most devastating myths of our time.

John Fritchie
Director of Development
Project Open Hand/Atlanta
Atlanta