What is ADAP?

ADAP – AIDS Drug Assistance Program

ADAP are programs established by the national government to help subsidize HIV medication costs to thousands of people. ADAP is estimated to reach about one-third of all people living with HIV. For many people, these programs are necessary for affording not only their HIV medications, but to in turn, afford everything else they need to live. But because of the national recession and the enormous amount of debt some states are incurring, ADAP programs are starting to see dramatic cutbacks.


In 1987, AZT was discovered and ADAP soon followed. Although there are funds from the national government allocated to each state for their ADAP programs, a large portion still needs to be subsidized by each state. Currently, HIV/AIDS medications can cost a person from $10,000 to $20,000 a year. Many states have not been able to keep subsidizing for their ADAP programs and now have been creating waiting lists for their ADAP programs. This means that from a few to over a few hundred people are not able to obtain help in purchasing their extremely expensive medication. Luckily, Wisconsin understands the importance of providing significant funds towards these programs and we do not have any waiting lists for ADAP. Other states are not so lucky.

According to the ADAP Advocacy Association (aaa), Hawaii has the least on their waiting list with 2 people. North Carolina has the largest by far with 470 people on their waiting list. Kentucky is the second highest with 200 people. This means that all of these people are not able to get the medications they need to stay alive. And that is why AIDS Watch, a branch of the National Association of People living With AIDS (NAPWA) just had Lobby Days (April 26-28), a time where constituents from their individual States went to talk to their congress people in Washington D.C. and to encourage them to pass an emergency supplemental for ADAP .

Why is ADAP important to HIV Prevention?

Right now, and we probably will do an article on this later on, there are a few new biomedical prevention items coming out.  Two of these involve using ARV (AntiRetroViral medication).  These programs are called PEP (Post Exposure Prophylaxis) and PrEP (Pre Exposure Prophylaxis).  If there is not enough money to help those living with HIV get the medications they need, is there really enough money to give medications to HIV - people to keep them HIV-? 

The second reason is because there has been studies done that say that there is a slightly, and let me emphasis slightly, less risk contracting HIV from someone who is HIV+ if that person's viral load is lowered to "undetectable" levels through treatment. If individuals can't get this treatment, their viral loads will stay high and will greatly increase the liklihood if they have unprotected sex or share a needle, to transmit the virus.