STD programs lose funding

Funding for AIDS education and testing of men for sexually transmitted diseases has been cut from next year’s budget for the Spokane Regional Health District, despite rising rates of HIV and other infections.

Women in Pine Lodge, a minimum-security prison, and high-risk teenagers in juvenile detention no longer will receive targeted information about HIV and AIDS, said Susan Sjoberg, a program manager at the health district.

And about 400 men a year will have to go elsewhere for testing, even as syphilis and gonorrhea cases increase in Spokane County.

“It’s heartbreaking since people are still being infected,” Sjoberg said.

But health district board members faced with a lean $22.5 million budget said they had to make hard choices in axing $200,000 worth of services. Other cuts included a nutrition program for children with special needs and a program that offers intensive support to women with substance abuse problems and their kids.

Board members approved the budget Thursday, the first time the proposed cuts were made public. Administrator Torney Smith, who originally estimated the shortfall at $350,000, said he didn’t want to influence the board’s decision with public debate about the issues.

In the future, the budget process could include a public hearing before approval, following suggestions from members Brad Stark and Todd Mielke, who said they were reacting to public criticism.

The budget can still be amended, noted member Dick Denenny. But member Margaret Jones, who helped craft the cuts, wasn’t optimistic.

“If they’re going to want it changed, they need to come with money to back their change,” said Jones. “We’ve used every nickel.”

The cuts include $50,000 for the male STD testing program; $20,000 for AIDS education; $41,000 for the Parent-Child Assistant Program, known as PCAP; and $88,000 for nutrition services for families of children with special needs.

Part of the rationale for the cuts was that many of the programs will be offered elsewhere in the community. PCAP, for instance, will be offered through New Horizons, another provider.

Nutrition services are available through private providers and other sources. And clinics such as the Community Health Association of Spokane and Planned Parenthood will step up with testing and education.

“I believe the capacity is in the community,” said Lyndia Vold, disease and prevention response director for the health district.

“We’re going to let the providers do what they do best and we’re doing what we do best, which is to follow up on individual cases.”

Still, she acknowledged that funding is being cut for STDs and HIV even as the incidence of infection is rising.

In 2006, there were 15 new cases of HIV diagnosed in Spokane County. In the first nine months of 2007, 21 cases were diagnosed.

So far this year, there have been 10 cases of syphilis in Spokane County, up from three last year. Gonorrhea cases have risen to 124, up from 72, and chlamydia cases have risen to 873, up from 833 last year.

The numbers represent a disturbing rise in the type and rate of sexually transmitted infections, especially those that were once nearly eradicated, health district staff members said.

It will be important for the district to carefully track the cases diagnosed by others, Sjoberg said.

“Part of what we’re hoping to do now is targeted STD screening,” she said.

Cuts in federal and state revenue and rising costs of employee salaries and benefits stretched the health district’s 2008 budget, which is about 1.4 percent lower than the 2007 plan.

Expenses for retirement benefits, union-guaranteed raises and an estimated cost of living boost of 3 percent added nearly $900,000 to the budget, said Finance Director Mike Riley.

Senate Majority Leader Lisa Brown, D-Spokane, attended the budget discussion and expressed sympathy for those who had to make the difficult decisions.

“A dedicated source of funding for public health is the solution,” she said.

Reach reporter JoNel Aleccia at