WASHINGTON ( CNN ) -- Police arrested 26 demonstrators at the U.S. Capitol on Thursday during a protest of federal AIDS policy , a Capitol police spokeswoman said . A man is placed in a van Thursday after being arrested on suspicion of unlawfully demonstrating in the Capitol . Police arrested the protesters on suspicion of unlawful assembly and disorderly conduct at the Capitol rotunda , spokeswoman Sgt . Kimberly Schneider said . The protesting group , Health Global Access Project , said in a statement that 27 people were arrested . The 10 a.m. demonstration by dozens of AIDS activists for increased funding of AIDS programs coincides with this week 's congressional talks over the financing of a health care reform plan . Members of Health Global Access Project entered the busy rotunda and chained themselves together with plastic chains , Schneider said . They lay on the ground holding up signs while some amused bystanders watched as police tried to persuade the protesters to disperse . Police took those who refused into custody . Group members knew they risked arrest , the group said in its statement , but they wanted to grab the attention of lawmakers and President Obama , who they accused of creating a `` flawed budget proposal '' that did not include critical HIV/AIDS funding . `` HIV is not in recession , '' Omolola Adele-Oso of DC Fights Back said in the statement . `` So why are we bailing out the bankers with $ 9 trillion , but breaking promises to fund life-saving AIDS programs in the U.S. and around the world at a fraction of that cost ? '' The group wants increased HIV/AIDS funding in the health care plan and requested that the government `` fully fund '' global AIDS programs and housing programs for low-income AIDS sufferers , they said . They argue that the administration 's budget proposal `` essentially flatlines global AIDS funding . '' HIV/AIDS funding increased for 2010 under a Department of Health and Human Services budget . Obama applauded former President Bush in December for his funding of global AIDS programs and said he planned to continue the work for AIDS relief in Africa . About 33 million people worldwide have HIV , according to the World Health Organization . The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimates that about 1.1 million people living in the United States are infected with HIV/AIDS . More than 13 percent of those newly diagnosed in 2006 transmitted the disease through injection drug use , the CDC reported . Health Global Access Project also wants Congress to lift the federal ban on funding syringe exchange so clean needles are available to users , Jose De Marco said in the statement . De Marco , who has HIV , is a member of the AIDS activist organizations ACT UP Philadelphia and Proyecto Sol Filadelphia .
Police : Demonstrators chained themselves together , lay on ground in rotunda . Protesters : Federal government needs to spend more on AIDS programs . Group also wants Congress to lift the federal ban on funding syringe exchange .