This announcement solicits applications for the Ryan White Part A HIV Emergency Relief Grant Program. Part A funds provide direct financial assistance to an eligible metropolitan area (EMA) or a transitional grant area (TGA) that has been severely affected by the HIV epidemic.
Grants assist
eligible program areas in developing or enhancing access to a comprehensive continuum of high quality, community-based care for low-income individuals and families with HIV through the provision of formula, supplemental, and Minority AIDS Initiative (MAI) funds. A comprehensive continuum of care includes the 13 core medical services specified in law, and appropriate support services that assist people living with HIV and AIDS (PLWH) in accessing treatment for HIV/AIDS infection that is consistent with the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) Treatment Guidelines. (See http://www.aidsinfo.nih.gov). Comprehensive HIV/AIDS care beyond these core services may include supportive services that meet the criteria of enabling individuals and families living with HIV/AIDS to access and remain in primary medical care to improve their medical outcomes.
HRSA/HAB recognizes that Part A EMAs and TGAs must use grant funds to support and further develop and/or expand systems of care to meet the needs of PLWH within the EMA/TGA and strengthen strategies to reach minority populations. HAB has required EMAs/TGAs to collect data to support identification of need, for planning purposes, and to validate the use of Ryan White HIV/AIDS Program funding.
A comprehensive application should reflect how those data were used to develop and expand the system of care in EMA/TGA jurisdictions.
Grantees should review/reference relevant needs assessments conducted by other HIV/AIDS programs, such as HRSA¿s Bureau of Primary Health Care, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA), and the U. S. Department of Housing Urban Development.
Ongoing CDC initiatives, as well as HAB¿s efforts with grantees to estimate and address Unmet Need of those aware of their HIV status and the newer requirement to identify and bring into care persons in their jurisdictions who are unaware of their positive HIV status, should result in many more PLWH entering into the EMA/TGA care system.
The EMA/TGA planning process must ensure that essential core medical services have been adequately funded to meet the needs of those already in care and those being linked to care.
As of March 2014, the CDC estimates more than 1. 1 million people are living with HIV and 1 in 5 people do not know their HIV status.
The ultimate goal of the United States (U.S.) Public Health Service¿s (PHS) is to inform all HIV-positive persons of their status and bring them into care in order to improve their health status, prolong their lives, and slow the spread of the epidemic in the U. S. through enhanced prevention efforts. A list of CDC initiatives can be found at http://www.cdc.gov/hiv/topics/prev_prog/index.htm.