Deep cuts in federal funding will force Massachusetts to immediately slash or eliminate many key HIV and AIDS prevention services, programs that were central to driving down the infection rates in the state by more than 50 percent over the past decade, according to a top Patrick administration official.

“The world has watched as we forged a new declaration that will shape the endgame of the AIDS epidemic,” General Assembly President Joseph Deiss told the leaders, ministers and diplomats after banging his gavel to signify the declaration’s adoption by consensus. Funding to combat AIDS increased eight-fold, from $1.8 billion in 2001 to $16 billion in 2010, but the U.N. agency to combat AIDS says between $22 billion and $24 billion is needed to address the magnitude of the crisis and respond to global demands for prevention, treatment and fighting discrimination against HIV sufferers.

Everyone has been touched by somebody who has been affected by HIV/AIDS. In fact, nearly 7,500 new cases of HIV infections are reported worldwide each day. In the United States alone, someone is infected with HIV every nine and a half minutes. A significant fundraiser since 1990, Dining Out for Life offers a meaningful way to support a worthy cause that suffers from lack of funding. On a single day, nearly $4 Million is raised in the struggle against HIV/AIDS.

AUSTIN (KXAN) - The health of more than 14,000 low-income Texans living with HIV and AIDS is at stake, as the Texas Senate Finance Committee takes up that section of the budget Thursday. This comes days after a Senate panel voted to spend an additional $4.5 billion on health services, not including the HIV program.