The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has begun awarding a total
of almost $339 million to state and local health departments across the
United States to fund HIV prevention activities this year. The awards
are for the first year of a five-year funding cycle and represent a new
direction for CDC HIV funding designed to achieve a higher level of
impact with every federal HIV prevention dollar spent.
The
awards are a critical component of CDC's new high-impact approach to
HIV prevention and better align resources to reflect the geographic
burden of the HIV epidemic today. As part of this funding announcement,
CDC is also providing the health departments with new, specific guidance
for prioritizing the most effective prevention programs that will have
the greatest impact on reducing new HIV infections.
Providing
funding to health departments has long been CDC's single largest
investment in HIV prevention, accounting for approximately half of CDC's
overall HIV prevention budget.
"With
50,000 new HIV infections every year and a tough economic environment,
the need to do more with existing resources is greater than ever," said
Kevin Fenton, M.D., director of CDC's National Center for HIV/AIDS,
Viral Hepatitis, STD and TB Prevention. "This new approach to prevention
funding is designed to focus on the places where needs are most urgent
and on the programs that will have the most far-reaching impact. It will
help us achieve the ambitious goals of the National HIV/AIDS Strategy
with the efficiency and urgency the HIV epidemic demands."
Funds
were awarded to health departments in all 50 states, the District of
Columbia, eight U.S. territories and eight cities with heavy HIV
burdens.
The funds
are allocated to individual health departments according to a formula
that better matches resources to the geographic burden of HIV, as
measured by the number of people reported living with HIV in each
jurisdiction. This new funding approach ensures that many areas with
heavier HIV burdens receive urgently needed funding increases.
CDC
will award an additional $20 million to health departments by March
2012 as part of this funding cycle to implement innovative HIV
prevention demonstration projects. CDC is currently reviewing
applications for this competitive round of funding.
"State
and local health departments are the backbone of the nation's HIV
prevention efforts," said Jonathan Mermin, M.D., director of CDC's
Division of HIV/AIDS Prevention. "This latest round of funding will help
them lead the nation to slow, and ultimately end, the HIV epidemic in
the United States – a public health imperative that could finally be
achieved."