HHS Releases $85M in Grants To Reduce Racial Health Disparities
HHS Secretary Tommy Thompson on Nov. 1 announced $85 million in grants to eliminate racial and ethnic health disparities among minority communities "highly affected" by several diseases, including HIV/AIDS, cancer and diabetes. NIH's National Center on Minority Health and Health Disparities provided $74.5 million to various institutions, and HHS' Office of Minority Health awarded 65 grants totaling $10.5 million -- $4.6 million of which is supported by funds from the Minority AIDS Initiative -- to support state-based efforts to eliminate health disparities. The awards included:
- $42.8 million to 14 institutions for research on minority health disparities;
- $19 million to 26 eligible biomedical and behavioral research institutions to support health disparities research and planning grants;
- $5.6 million to six biomedical and behavioral institutions to increase biomedical and behavioral research;
- $7.1 million to 153 health professionals to increase the number of individuals conducting clinical or health disparities research;
- $1 million to 20 small-scale, community-based projects in 13 states that will work to reduce "high-risk" behaviors such as tobacco use, physical inactivity or poor eating habits, as well as improve health care access;
- $2.4 million to fund minority health offices in 14 states, Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands to improve statewide responses to HIV/AIDS; and
- $4.6 million to support the development of "effective and durable" service delivery among nine community organizations and three health departments in eight states and the District of Columbia involved in HIV/AIDS treatment and prevention.
Thompson said, "African Americans, Hispanics, Native Americans, Alaska Natives, Asian and Pacific Islanders suffer an unequal burden of death and disease, despite improvements in the overall health of the general population over the past decade. These awards demonstrate our commitment to making real progress to eliminate health disparities in this country" (HHS release, 11/1).
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