Summary of Promising Programs to Eliminate Racial and Ethnic Health Disparities

researched and compiled by Eric Jacobson, Sarah McCloskey, Erin Kennedy, and Michele Sloan
originally published in 2004

Other Sources | Health Conditions | System-wide Inerventions | Specific Ethnic Groups

HIV/AIDS

last updated November 29, 2007

California | New Hampshire | Pennsylvania | Virginia | Mississippi | South Carolina | Washington State | Federal Program

Background
In 2005, Delaware’s AIDS case rate per 100,000 people was 9.1 for whites, 85.5 for African Americans, and 27.1 for Hispanics.* Since 1981 the CDC has been tracking the AIDS epidemic, which has infected about 956,666 people in the United States to date. In 2005, in the 33 states which conduct confidential named-base testing, approximately 38,000 people were diagnosed with HIV/AIDS. Although African Americans only make up about 12 percent of the overall population, 49 percent of these 38,000 cases were diagnosed in African Americans (CDC). AIDS is currently the leading killer of African-American men ages 25-44. Even though there have been significant gains in medicine and education about AIDS, it still dominates minority communities.**

*Data provided by the Kaiser Family Foundation State Health Facts Online. www.statehealthfacts.org
**aidsinfo.nih.gov

State Programs
State programs usually focus on HIV/AIDS awareness, education, testing, and prevention. Some operate through local churches and religious organizations, while others partner with community organizations to target at-risk populations.

California

Los Angeles Centers for Alcohol and Drug Abuse: Latino HIV/AIDS Awareness Task Force – The goal is to reduce the number of Latinos who contract the HIV/AIDS virus by providing education and awareness classes through the local churches. The task force provides churches with educational flyers, training sessions to educate pastors, and health fairs to recognize church involvement. This is an APHA Statistics to Solutions program example. For more information, contact Ruben Acosta at 562-906-2676 ext. 120.

New Hampshire

New Hampshire AIDS Prevention Program – This program provides culturally competent prevention services with the goal of decreasing the spread of HIV, especially in minority populations. www.nhhealthequity.org/english/pro_hivaids.cfm

Pennsylvania

Rapid HIV Teen Testing Program, Philadelphia, Pa. – This program is sponsored by St. Christopher’s Hospital’s Pediatric and Adolescence HIV/AIDS organization, which targets African-American and Hispanic adolescents. Teens are provided with screenings, sexual-health education, and risk counseling from other positive teens in the community. The program encourages teens, especially in urban areas, to get tested and to learn about HIV/AIDS and how it affects the body. The program has been evaluated, and, though less than a year old, it has been successful in increasing teen awareness. www.chop.edu/consumer/jsp/division/generic.jsp?id=78785

Virginia

Minority AIDS Projects – The program provides funds to minority community–based organizations that will conduct HIV/AIDS prevention programs and education to minorities at risk for infection. Money is allocated to nine areas in which morbidity among African Americans, Latinos, and Asian/Pacific Islanders are the highest. www.vdh.state.va.us/std/PreventionProgram.asp

Mississippi

Building Bridges – The program targets African-American women, in order to educate and increase the knowledge about HIV and STDs. The main goal is to prevent or reduce the behaviors and practices that place individuals in risky situations. The program also works to increase the knowledge about HIV/AIDS support programs throughout the community.

South Carolina

The South Carolina Minority HIV/AIDS Demonstration Project – This is a three-year project to address the impact of HIV on African-American communities. The project identifies and then works with organizations that are community-based and serve the African-American population. These organizations will be provided with training, workshops, funding opportunities, and grant-writing seminars to help generate more resources for HIV/AIDS prevention and treatment. This initiative also helps in researching and collecting data from local communities in order to plan specific programs to meet the population’s needs. www.scdhec.net/health/minority/demonstration.htm

Washington State

People of Color Against AIDS Network (POCAAN) – This program has realized the devastating effects of HIV/AIDS in minority communities in Washington State. Founded in 1987, they POCAAN created a network that focuses on expanding access to care and education. Some programs that have been created by this network include Health on Wheels (HOW) in which mobile HIV testing is provided to communities of color, YES, which educates and supports young homosexual and bisexual minority men in order to create a safe community network, and TARR (Teaching Addicts Risk Reduction), which educates injection drug users on HIV/AIDS and hepatitis risks. www.pocaan.org

Federal Program

The Ryan White CARE (Comprehensive AIDS Research Emergency) Act – Originally enacted by congress in 1990, this act served to improve the quality of care received to HIV/AIDS patients in communities, particularly undeserving communities, through federal grants allocated by the U.S. Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA). This act was amended and reinstated in 1996 and again in 2000. In 2006, the Ryan White HIV/AIDS Treatment Modernization Act was passed, which encompasses a Minority AIDS Initiative and allocated funding to evaluate and address AIDS in local minority communities. Since 1990, this act has reached over 500,000 lives and has served as an inspiration for many other innovative initiatives to improve the quality of care of those infected with HIV/AIDS, particularly the underserved population. hab.hrsa.gov/treatmentmodernization/minority.htm and for the full Act, see hab.hrsa.gov/history.htm

For more information, e-mail Eric Jacobson or call him at 302-831-1711.

photo on this page courtesy of the Administration on Aging