Letter: Where are priorities when AIDS research gets so much funding?
Thursday, July 23, 1998 | 11:26 a.m.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention released figures to show how much federal money was spent per death in fiscal year 1994 on each of the five deadliest diseases. The findings are striking: AIDS/HIV, $39,172; diabetes, $5,449; cancer, $3,776; heart disease, $1,056; and stroke, $765.
AIDS/HIV patients received 10 times the amount of money of all cancer diseases combined. That includes leukemia, breast cancer, prostrate cancer, lung cancer and so forth.
Does political clout now determine which diseases receive federal funding at the expense of others? This appalls me when one realizes that some of the spread of AIDS/HIV could be prevented through responsible behavior.
Marsha Norton
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