Indian Health Service Announces $5 Mil for ‘Ending the HIV Epidemic in the U.S.’
On April 25, the Indian Health Service (IHS) announced via a press release $5 million in funding for “Ending the HIV Epidemic in the U.S.” The funding will support efforts toward the eliminating HIV and hepatitis C in Indian Country.
The release states that “The funds include $2.48 million for three-year cooperative agreements for tribes, tribal organizations, and urban Indian organizations to support activities that address HIV/HCV and sexually-transmitted infections. The deadline for tribes, tribal organizations, and urban Indian organizations to apply for the funding is June 17, 2022.”
Further, “Since the late 1980s, enormous progress has been made in the fight against HIV, but there is still work to be done. National interventions have reduced the number of new HIV infections, but not everyone is benefiting equally from these advances. New diagnoses are highly concentrated among men having sex with men; minorities, including American Indians and Alaska Natives; and those who live in the southern United States. Among people living with HIV, American Indians and Alaska Natives have the largest percentage of persons with undiagnosed HIV infection.”
Stigma in Native communities can be a barrier that prevents an individual living with HIV or at risk for HIV from receiving healthcare, the release explains. IHS is committed to addressing barriers for people living on Indian reservations and in rural communities that have limited education and HIV testing.
Additionally, added to the cooperative agreements, $1.5 million will go toward supporting clinical training and funding for continuous case-based training and technical assistance. Approximately $620,000 will go toward supporting national infrastructure and approximately $400,000 will go toward supporting a national media campaign.
“This funding comes in addition to the several Indian Health Service activities that are also supported by the Minority HIV/AIDS Fund, which has provided national-level programs like web-based youth education and prevention services, clinical training for HIV care, expansion of pre-exposure prophylaxis for HIV prevention, case management support for people living with HIV, support of National Native HIV/AIDS Awareness Day, and indigenizing the National HIV/AIDS Strategy,” the release adds. “In June 2021, the IHS distributed close to $10.5 million through this competitive funding opportunity.”
Acting director of IHS, Elizabeth Fowler, was quoted in the release saying that “We are excited about this new funding opportunity for Indian Country to address diagnosis, treatment and prevention activities that are aimed at eliminating disparities and reducing HIV’s impact. We are committed to providing American Indians and Alaska Natives who are at risk, or are living with HIV, with the culturally-appropriate support and services they need.”
The release concludes by saying that the Biden Administration is continuing to support for this initiative and the president’s budget requests $52 million in FY 2023 for IHS to treat and reduce the transmission of HIV and hepatitis C.
