HHS Awards $3.8 Million in Grants for HIV/AIDS Health Services for Medically Underserved Communities
HHS Secretary Tommy Thompson on Thursday announced $3.8 million in grants to help provide outpatient and primary care services to low-income people who are either living with HIV/AIDS or are at risk of contracting the virus, according to a Health Resources and Services Administration release. The 12 grants, awarded under the Title III Early Intervention Services program of the Ryan White CARE Act, will go to community-based clinics, hospitals, public health departments and universities in nine states. The grants will help fund testing and referral services, medical evaluations and clinical care, oral health care, drug adherence and nutritional counseling, outpatient mental health services and outpatient substance abuse treatment. The funding will help "ensure that early HIV care is targeted to needy communities" in inner cities and rural and remote areas, according to HRSA. Thompson said, "Today's grants will help get people in to be tested and see that they receive early treatment to slow progression of the disease." HRSA Administrator Elizabeth Duke said that the grant recipients -- all of which have received such funding for at least the past three years -- "have a track record of providing outstanding services to people living with HIV/AIDS who need it most" (HRSA release, 4/3).
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