LOS ANGELES COUNTY: HRSA Awards Nearly $1 Million For Care Of HIV-Positive Blacks
The Health Resources and Services Administration yesterday announced that it was awarding Charles R. Drew University of Medicine and Science nearly $1 million to improve the integration of medical care and social services for HIV-positive African Americans in Los Angeles County. The three-year, $915,508 award will fund the "SPECTRUM Partners in Care for HIV Treatment" project, a partnership among Drew University's Oasis Clinic, which provides medical services, SPECTRUM Center, which provides mental health and support services, and the Shields for Family Center, which provides substance abuse treatment services for people with HIV. According to HRSA, Los Angeles County is second only to New York City in the proportion of AIDS cases; and while blacks make up less than 10% of the county's population, they account for more than 20% of its AIDS cases. The funding comes from the Ryan White Comprehensive AIDS Resource Emergency (CARE) Act's Special Projects of National Significance (SPNS) Program. HRSA Administrator Dr. Claude Earl Fox said, "This award is HRSA's first step in a $12 million program under the CARE Act in fiscal year 1999 designed to meet challenges faced by minorities living with HIV disease, particularly African Americans, in accessing quality HIV care that is culturally appropriate." Dr. Joseph O'Neill, associate director for HRSA's HIV/AIDS Bureau, said, "As we approach the next decade of HIV care, and the challenges of serving emergency HIV-affected populations, it is essential that models of care address all aspects of HIV care, which SPECTRUM partners is doing so well." The SPNS program currently funds 69 projects, the majority of which address the needs of low-income, underserved people (HRSA release, 11/16). Click here for previous coverage of minority populations and HIV/AIDS.
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