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Scientific teams in more than 12 states will receive National Institutes of Health (NIH) grants to study effective ways to prevent and treat HIV/AIDS among people in the criminal justice system. The grants, announced on September 23 in a National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA) release, will be awarded by NIDA, with additional support from the National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH) and the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), all components of the NIH. Close to $50 million dollars in grants over a five-year period are expected under this research initiative.“These important and wide reaching research grants will focus on identifying individuals with HIV within the criminal justice system and linking them to highly active antiretroviral therapy (HAART) during periods of incarceration and after community re-entry,” said NIDA Director Dr. Nora D. Volkow. “We hope this effort will lead to decreased HIV/AIDS-related illness and death among those in the criminal justice system, as well as decreased HIV transmission in the community at-large, making an important impact on public health.”
The release explains that the newly funded research will compare different modalities of the seek, test, and treat strategy to engage and retain HIV-positive offenders in treatment. Some of the projects will create and compare systems to better integrate and coordinate HIV management efforts within jails, prisons, health departments, universities, and community organizations. The grants will also support randomized controlled trials among large groups of HIV-positive parolees and probationers comparing varied approaches for linking them to screening, treatment, and social services in their communities. Two of the projects will study the effectiveness of medication used to treat heroin addiction among HIV-positive injection drug users who are transitioning to home communities.
“We are learning that treatment can be one of the most powerful forms of prevention,” said NIMH Director Dr. Thomas Insel. “But treatment of HIV-infected men and women during or after incarceration is a challenge, especially when many have co-occurring mental or substance abuse disorders. We know that patients will stay connected to HIV care if their mental health improves. NIMH's project involves intensive case management for African-American and Latino parolees in Oakland, California.”
The grants will support research in a variety of jails and prison systems, including the Los Angeles County Jail; the Cook County Jail in Chicago; the Rikers Island correctional facility in New York City; jail facilities in Washington, D.C., as well as prison systems in Illinois, North Carolina, Texas, Wisconsin and Rhode Island.
The Friends of AIDS Foundation is dedicated to enhancing the quality of life for HIV positive individuals and empowering people to make healthy choices to prevent the spread of the HIV virus. To learn more about The Friends of AIDS Foundation, please visit: http://www.friendsofaids.org.
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