Infectious Diseases
HHS Awards $2.27 Billion in Grants to Help Americans Access HIV/AIDS Care, Support Services, and Medication

The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services announced today approximately $2.27 billion in Ryan White HIV/AIDS Program grants were awarded to cities, counties, states, and local community-based organizations in fiscal year (FY) 2019. This funding through the Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) supports a comprehensive system of HIV primary medical care, medication, and essential support services to more than half a million people with HIV in the United States.

“The Ryan White HIV/AIDS Program has played a major role in the in the improved outcomes we see for Americans with HIV,” said HHS Secretary Alex Azar. “Thanks to expanded access to treatment and medical advances, HIV/AIDS has gone from being a likely death sentence to a condition that allows a nearly normal lifespan if properly treated. Ryan White HIV/AIDS Program clients, despite often very challenging circumstances, have a viral suppression rate that far exceeds the national average. The successes of the Ryan White HIV/AIDS Program are in part thanks to how the program cares for the needs of the whole person, including non-health factors. With President Trump’s new initiative to end the HIV epidemic in America by 2030, we will build on the successes of the Ryan White HIV/AIDS Program to connect Americans, especially in the communities most at risk, to the treatment and prevention services they need.”

"For nearly three decades, HRSA’s Ryan White HIV/AIDS Program has played a critical role in the United States' response to ending the HIV epidemic,” said HRSA Acting Administrator Tom Engels. "These grants will help ensure that Americans with HIV/AIDS have access to life-saving care and treatment needed to improve their health quality and medical outcomes."

HRSA oversees the Ryan White HIV/AIDS Program, which provides care and treatment services to low income people with HIV who are among the hardest to reach populations. The program serves approximately 50 percent of people with diagnosed HIV infection in the United States. In 2017, approximately 86 percent of Ryan White HIV/AIDS Program clients who received HIV medical care were virally suppressed, up from 69 percent in 2010. The Ryan White HIV/AIDS Program will play a leading role in continuing to diagnose, treat, prevent, and respond to HIV as part of the Administration’s Ending the HIV Epidemic: A Plan for America initiative.

HRSA’s Ryan White HIV/AIDS Program is critical to improving health outcomes and reducing HIV transmission by improving access to HIV treatment and antiretroviral medication. People with HIV who take HIV medication daily as prescribed and who reach and maintain an undetectable viral load have effectively no risk of sexually transmitting the virus to a partner without HIV.

Source: hhs.gov

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