Fewer HIV funds for women, youth in big cities including D.C.

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http://www.washingtonpost.com/national/health-science/fewer-hiv-funds-for-women-youth-in-big-cities-including-dc/2012/10/07/ff85263c-0f39-11e2-bb5e-492c0d30bff6_story.html?hpid=z3


Chip Somodevilla/GETTY IMAGES - A health educator massages a drop of blood from a man's finger while conducting an HIV test at the Whitman-Walker Health Elizabeth Taylor Medical Center Sept. 27, 2012 in Washington, DC.

The federal government is providing fewer safety-net funds for women and children living with HIV/AIDS in many large cities with high infection rates, including Washington. At the same time, 19 other cities are for the first time receiving funds to help this population, according to federal data.

Federal officials say the broader geographic focus is part of the national HIV/AIDS strategy. The goal is to respond to the changing epidemiology of the disease in a more coordinated way and to target areas of the country with unmet needs. Seven of the cities getting new funding are in the South, the epicenter of new HIV infections.

The federal government provides about $70 million in safety-net grants a year to community groups, hospitals and health departments to pay for comprehensive primary HIV medical care and support for women, children and youth living with the disease. The grants are the smallest component of the $2.3 billion Ryan White program that provides HIV-related services to more than half a million people who lack sufficient health-care coverage or financial resources.

Most Ryan White money is awarded directly to health departments in states and jurisdictions based on the number of people living with the disease. But grants to help HIV-positive women and children are awarded competitively to providers, usually every three years. This year, for the first time in more than a decade, criteria were changed to place less emphasis on youth-specific services, one grant applicant said. New grants were also capped at $500,000.