$1 Million in Ryan White HIV/AIDS program grants will go to counties to strengthen efforts to end the HIV epidemic

The Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) will award approximately $1 million in Ryan White HIV/AIDS Program grants to 10 metropolitan areas that are Part A jurisdictions to provide technical assistance needed to end the HIV epidemic, reports Health and Human Services. This funding through HRSA’s HIV/AIDS Bureau supports a comprehensive system of HIV primary medical care, medication, and essential support services to more than half a million people with HIV in the United States.

Under Part A of the Ryan White HIV/AIDS Program, 52 metropolitan areas provide core medical and support services to people with HIV. The program provides grant funding to eligible metropolitan areas (EMA) and transitional grant areas (TGA) with the highest number of people with HIV and AIDS and experiencing increases in HIV and AIDS cases and emerging care needs.

“HRSA’s Ryan White HIV/AIDS Program Part A plays a critical role in the United States’ public heath response to ending the HIV epidemic,” said HRSA Administrator George Sigounas, MS, PhD in a statement. “These grants will help ensure proactive programming so the most vulnerable people living with HIV/AIDS in the United States have access to life-saving care and treatment to improve health outcomes and reduce HIV transmission.”

Funding under the Building Capacity for HIV Elimination in Ryan White HIV/AIDS Program Part A Jurisdiction project will provide technical assistance to strengthen efforts to end the HIV epidemic through improvements along the HIV care continuum. Based on the awarded jurisdictions’ needs, activities under this initiative will include community engagement, enhancing core medical and support services, infrastructure support, and information dissemination efforts. Eight of the grant recipients are also among the 48 priority counties identified as part of the Department of Health and Human Services’ Ending the HIV Epidemic: A Plan for America initiative.

“The Ryan White HIV/AIDS Program has a track record of success,” said HRSA’s HIV/AIDS Bureau Associate Administrator Laura Cheever, MD, ScM in a statement. “In 2017, approximately 86 percent of program clients who received HIV medical care were virally suppressed, significantly higher than the national average of 60 percent among all those with diagnosed HIV.”