WHO WAS RYAN WHITE?

The Ryan White HIV/AIDS Program was named for a courageous young man named Ryan White who was diagnosed with AIDS following a blood transfusion in December 1984. At the time of his diagnosis (age 13), little was known about the disease and few medical therapies were available. In middle school, Ryan’s school district barred him from attending classes; he and his mother Jeanne White (Ginder) fought to educate their community about HIV and to get him back in school.

After moving to Cicero, Indiana, Ryan was able to go back to school. His efforts to educate the public didn’t stop there, and he later met with members of Congress to fight for the need for comprehensive services to care for persons living with HIV. In 1990, four months after Ryan’s death at the age of 18, Congress enacted the Ryan White Comprehensive AIDS Resources Emergency (CARE) Act.

Legislation - RYAN WHITE CARE ACT

The Ryan White Comprehensive AIDS Resources Emergency (CARE) Act of 1990 was established to help cities, states, and local organizations to provide services to persons living with HIV. The legislation was reauthorized in 1996, 2000, 2006, and 2009 and is now known as the Ryan White Treatment Extension Act of 2009.  The Ryan White Program is the federal government’s most comprehensive effort to improve the quality and availability of care for medically underserved individuals and families affected by HIV. The Ryan White Program is administered federally through the HIV/AIDS Bureau (HAB) of the Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) of the US Department of Health and Human Services (HHS).  The majority of funds are used to address core medical services and essential supportive services. There are a variety of elements to the legislation which serve the needs of different communities and populations.