Illinois officials call for more resources for Black communities on National Black HIV/AIDS Awareness Day
Illinois officials call for more resources for Black-led HIV/AIDS service providers
State Rep. La Shawn Ford joined the Black Leadership Advocacy Coalition for Healthcare Equity on Tuesday to encourage greater state investments in programs targeted towards Black-led community based HIV/AIDS service providers.
Tuesday marks National Black HIV/AIDS Awareness Day.
State Rep. La Shawn Ford (D-Chicago) joined the Black Leadership Advocacy Coalition for Healthcare Equity to encourage greater state investments in programs targeted towards Black-led community based HIV/AIDS service providers.
The advocacy group said that less than $1 million of the Illinois Department of Public Health's HIV/AIDS budget is going towards Black-led community-based service providers.
"We cannot continue to write policy and pass out appropriations and leave out the most impacted group from the table," Ford said. "So as
state representative, I'm urging the governor and the speaker of the house that I served in to recognize today's visit and look at the appropriations, look at the need and make sure that today is the day that we change our mission to make sure that we do everything that we can to get to zero as the senator said."
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Ford said as it stands now there is no money in the Illinois general fund that goes toward funding African-American-led HIV/AIDS community service providers.