Mass. AIDS Groups Scramble for Donors Amid Federal Cuts

AIDS charities in Massachusetts are issuing urgent calls for contributions after learning this month that the state has lost one-quarter of its budget to prevent the disease, writes The Boston Globe.

The Centers for Disease Control is shifting resources from states with low HIV infection rates to those with high or growing rates, resulting in a $4.3-million cut in Massachusetts’s federal aid.

The new regulations require Massachusetts to move money from groups that distribute condoms, exchange needles, or advertise prevention techniques to those that conduct HIV tests in clinics and provide services for those already infected.

Charities such as Boston’s Fenway Health and Tapestry Health, which serves poor communities in western Massachusetts, are calling on supporters to step up donations and urge federal officials to rethink the policy shift, which critics say punishes states where health groups have successfully driven down infection rates.

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