Ryan White HIV/AIDS Program Funding Awarded to Counties in Need

The Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) has awarded approximately $1 million in Ryan White HIV/AIDS Program grants from to 10 Part A jurisdiction metropolitan areas. This federal funding is part of an effort to provide technical assistance to enhance efforts to end the HIV epidemic, including HIV primary care, medication, and support services to more than half a million patients with the virus in the United States.¹

“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 George Sigounas, MS, PhD, HRSA administrator, in a prepared statement.¹ “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.”

Approximately 52 metropolitan areas provide core medical and support services to patients living with HIV through the Part A of the Ryan White HIV/AIDS Program. The program was first authorized in 1990 and is administered by the US Department of Health and Human Services. The program serves an important source of ongoing access to HIV medication and support services to patients living with HIV who are uninsured and underserved through funding to eligible metropolitan areas (EMA) and transitional grant areas (TGA).²

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 HIV epidemic through improvements along the HIV care continuum. Activities include: community engagement, enhancing core medical and support services, infrastructure support, and information dissemination efforts.²

Eight of the 10 grant recipients are also among the 48 priority counties identified as part of the US Department of Health and Human Services’ Ending the HIV Epidemic: A Plan for America initiative.

The funding was announced Thursday on National HIV Testing Day, an initiative first observed on June 27, 1995, to encourage people to get tested for HIV, know their status, and get linked to care and treatment.³

“We understand there is an unprecedented opportunity to end the HIV epidemic in America,” said Laura Cheever, MD, ScM, HIV/AIDS bureau associate administrator for the HRSA, in a prepared statement.¹ “The Ryan White HIV/AIDS Program has a track record of success. In 2017, approximately 86% of program clients who received HIV medical care were virally suppressed, significantly higher than the national average of 60% among all those with diagnosed HIV.”

Reference

• Trump Administration Awards $1 Million in Ryan White HIV/AIDS Program Grants to Counties to Strengthen Efforts to End the HIV Epidemic in the United States [news release]. HHS website. Published June 27, 2019. https://www.hhs.gov/about/news/2019/06/27/trump-administration-awards-1-million-in-ryan-white-hiv-aids-program-grants.html. Accessed June 27, 2019.
• About the Ryan White HIV/AIDS Program. HRSA website. https://hab.hrsa.gov/about-ryan-white-hivaids-program/about-ryan-white-hivaids-program. Accessed June 27, 2019.
• National HIV Testing Day. HIV.gov website. https://www.hiv.gov/events/awareness-days/hiv-testing-day. Accessed June 27, 2019.