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New Allocation of Funding will Help Reduce HIV Infections in the U.S. |
| Washington, DC – The AIDS Institute is pleased to voice its strong support of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) five-year HIV prevention funding opportunity announcement for health departments in states, territories, and select cities. The new direction outlined by the CDC will better help decrease the overall number of new HIV infections in the United States and achieve the goals of the National HIV/AIDS Strategy (NHAS).The AIDS Institute has historically supported the philosophy that the money should follow the epidemic. In 2009, we conducted an analysis of how the CDC allocated its prevention dollars and found there is a wide variation from state to state. Additionally, the study found the funds were not distributed in a manner that may best reduce the number of new infections.
We are very pleased the CDC has decided to rectify these past inequities and now will base the distribution of funds on the number of people with HIV.www.cdc.gov/hiv/surveillance/resources/reports/2009report/pdf/table21.pdf In an era of constrained federal resources, it is more important that funding be distributed in the best way possible to reduce HIV infections. This philosophy is laid out in the NHAS, which calls for efforts to intensify HIV prevention in communities where HIV is most heavily concentrated and distribute funding to areas where it is most needed and where the most impact can occur. The AIDS Institute acknowledges that distributing funds in a more equitable manner is just one component to improving our Nation’s effort to reduce HIV infections. We realize the total amount of funding that is available for HIV prevention is far from adequate and are advocating for increases. If the overall level of funding is reduced in anyway, the losses to the jurisdictions will be even greater. We also realize that how the funds are spent on various programs, interventions, and populations is also critical to decreasing the number new HIV infections. We believe the CDC has done an excellent job of outlining and prioritizing prevention program elements in the funding announcement. The CDC has the responsibility to ensure that its existing resources are distributed in the best possible manner to reduce the number of new HIV infections in the country. The AIDS Institute believes they have fulfilled this in the funding announcement. |
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The AIDS Institute is a national nonprofit organization that promotes action for social change through public policy research, advocacy and education.
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