Health Resources and Services Administration
http://newsroom.hrsa.gov
Wednesday, February 6
The Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) fully supports the Trump Administration's initiative: Ending the HIV Epidemic: A Plan for America.
Through HRSA's Ryan White HIV/AIDS Program and the HRSA-funded Health Center Program, the agency will play a leading role in helping to diagnose, treat, protect and respond to end the HIV epidemic.
"We have an unprecedented opportunity to end the HIV epidemic in America. Through this initiative, in 2020, HRSA would work with program recipients to expand evidence-informed interventions proven to increase engagement and retention in care, reduce stigma, and improve viral suppression for the hardest to reach individuals," said HRSA Administrator George Sigounas, MS, Ph.D. "HRSA's Health Center Program will play a major expanded role in providing Pre Exposure Prophylaxis (PrEP) to those populations at the greatest risk of acquiring HIV infection."
HRSA will target resources to the 48 highest burden counties, Washington, D.C., San Juan, Puerto Rico, and seven states with a substantial rural HIV burden.
The HRSA-funded Health Center Program will expand PrEP services to selected health centers in the focus jurisdictions where over half of all new HIV infections occur.
HRSA's Ryan White HIV/AIDS Program will increase HIV care and treatment efforts in the focus jurisdictions.
The Ryan White HIV/AIDS Program has a track record of success. Of all the patients that had at least one medical visit in the program in 2017, 86% were virally suppressed, significantly higher than the national average of 60% among all those living with diagnosed HIV.
The Ryan White HIV/AIDS Program will continue to provide key services such as case management, behavioral health, medications, and medical care as well as support services such as transportation and housing — all of which are critical for engaging people living with HIV in medical care and ensuring improved health outcomes.
HRSA's Health Center Program supports 12,000 service delivery sites across the country, providing affordable, accessible, high quality, and cost-effective preventive and primary health care to more than 27 million people annually.
Health centers provide a model of coordinated, comprehensive, and patient-centered primary health care, integrating a wide range of medical, dental, mental health, substance use disorder, and patient services.
Health centers are also a key point of entry for people undiagnosed with HIV. Nearly two million patients receive a HIV test at a health center annually.
Many health centers provide HIV care services, including PrEP. And within the Ending the HIV Epidemic initiative, HRSA's Health Center Program will play a major expanded role in providing PrEP to those populations at the greatest risk of acquiring HIV infection.
For more information on Ending the HIV Epidemic: a Plan for America, please visit: https://www.hiv.gov/ending-hiv-epidemic.
For more information on the Ryan White HIV/AIDS Program, please visit: https://hab.hrsa.gov.
For more information on HRSA’s Health Center Program, please visit: https://bphc.hrsa.gov.
