S1803

TRENTON – Legislation sponsored by Senators Joseph F. Vitale and Ronald L. Rice which would appropriate $5 million for the AIDS Drug Distribution Program (ADDP) and rapid AIDS testing was unanimously approved today by the Assembly Appropriations Committee.

“HIV/AIDS is the modern world’s plague, an epidemic of staggering proportions which in this stage of the game has no known cure,” said Senator Vitale, D-Middlesex, the Chairman of the Senate Health and Human Services Committee. “However, with the proper medication, and knowledge of the disease, people infected with the disease can live productive lives, and can avoid passing the disease on to others. The State has a moral obligation to support programs which would ease the suffering of AIDS victims, and would provide an invaluable tool in the elimination of the AIDS epidemic.”

TRENTON – Legislation sponsored by Senators Joseph F. Vitale and Ronald L. Rice which would appropriate $5 million for the AIDS Drug Distribution Program (ADDP) was unanimously approved today by the Senate Budget and Appropriations Committee.

“HIV/AIDS has become this century’s bubonic plague, and without education, treatment and support from the State, it will continue to consume too many too soon,” said Senator Vitale, D-Middlesex, the Chairman of the Senate Health and Human Services Committee. “We have to step in, and provide relief to those who are suffering from the disease, and a means to contain the disease, or we will continue to see a rise in the AIDS epidemic.”