The Legislature hereby finds and declares all of the following: (a) The drug azidothymidine (AZT) improves and prolongs the quality of life for those suffering from acquired immune deficiency syndrome (AIDS) or AIDS-related conditions, is believed to reduce the infectiousness of a person infected with human immunodeficiency virus (HIV), and is the only drug approved by the federal Food and Drug Administration for treatment of AIDS and AIDS-related conditions. (b) Hundreds of Californians infected with HIV are receiving AZT due to a subsidy for AZT made available by the federal government for low-income people. (c) The department estimates that it will have sufficient federal funds to maintain those enrolling in the program prior to October 1, 1988, through April 1989, if it terminates new enrollees beginning October 1, 1988. (d) The department intends to direct counties to cease accepting new enrollees for the subsidy program beginning October 1, 1988, because of the exhaustion of these federal funds. (e) The federal government has an obligation to continue to support the subsidy program that it has initiated because of the horrendous moral consequences of terminating the access of low-income infected people to the drug. (f) The funding cycle for federal programs precludes appropriating additional funds to maintain this program until June of 1989.
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