D.C. officials respond to HIV/AIDS criticism
Associated Press
10/19/09 6:50 PM EDT
WASHINGTON — D.C.'s mayor and city health officials on Monday acknowledged problems with the way the city's HIV/AIDS office has given out grant money in the past but say they have corrected the failings.
The response during a news conference at the Department of Health came after The Washington Post began a series of stories Sunday on what it said was the mismanagement of money going to HIV/AIDS groups that help D.C. residents. The paper reported that from 2004 to 2008, more than $25 million was given to groups that had questionable spending or questions about the quality of care and services.
D.C. Attorney General Peter J. Nickles promised to follow up on the paper's report. His office has been looking at past misuses of money, but it was "helpful" to have the paper's research, he said.
The head of the city's HIV/AIDS office, Dr. Shannon Hader, said that over the time period studied, the city spent some $500 million on HIV/AIDS services. The overwhelming majority of the funds was well spent, she said. She added that the "vast majority" of the cases the paper has cited in its report were already under investigation when she started in 2007.
The city has now overhauled the process by which organizations get grants, officials said.
The city's mayor, Adrian Fenty, who took office in 2007, said that at the beginning of his administration he probably "did not move fast enough" to address problems at the HIV/AIDS office.
According to a report released by D.C. health officials earlier this year, at least 3 percent of residents in the nation's capital are living with HIV or AIDS.
