Health Departments Awarded $339 Million for Funding HIV Prevention

CDC is awarding $339 million in HIV prevention funds to health departments in all 50 states, eight cities, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, the US Virgin Islands, and the six Pacific Island jurisdictions. The awards, for the first year of a five-year funding cycle, represent a new direction for CDC HIV funding designed to achieve a higher level of impact for every dollar spent.

“With 50,000 new HIV infections every year and a tough economic environment, the need to do more with existing resources is greater than ever,” said Dr. Kevin Fenton, director of CDC’s National Center for HIV/AIDS, Viral Hepatitis, STD and TB Prevention. “This new approach to prevention funding is designed to focus on the places where needs are most urgent and on the programs that will have the most far-reaching impact. It will help us achieve the ambitious goals of the National HIV/AIDS Strategy with the efficacy and urgency the HIV epidemic demands.”

Allocations to individual health departments are based on a formula that better matches resources to the number of people living with HIV in that jurisdiction. An additional $20 million will be competitively awarded by this March to departments implementing innovative HIV prevention demonstration projects.

“State and local health departments are the backbone of the nation’s HIV prevention efforts. This latest round of funding will help them lead the nation to slow, and ultimately end, the HIV epidemic in the United States - a public health imperative that could finally be achieved,” said Dr. Jonathan Mermin, director of CDC’s Division of HIV/AIDS Prevention.

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.

TOGETHER WE REMAIN STRONG!