Women with AIDS: Will it change AIDS service organizations?

In the early 1980s, gay men formed AIDS service organizations (ASOs) in are as hardest hit by the disease such ar San Francisco and New York City, to p rovide assistance to infected members of their own communities. The Ryan Wh ile CARE Act of 1990 made funds available for community-bared groups, such ar ASOs, to provide support services to all people with HIV/AIDS. The epide miology of AIDS has changed greatly in recent years, and increasing numbers of poor, minority women with children now contract HIV/AIDS. To determine if ASOs are in compliance with the CARE Act, this study surveyed 20 ASOs ac ross the country and a number of their female clients to see if ASOs, some of which were started by gay men, have tailored their services for a growin g minority, heterosexual population. The results indicate that a number of ASOs have been slow in responding to the diverse needs of women. Recommenda tions are offered to make the organisations more responsive.