City of Boston Receives $14.3 Million Ryan White Grant to Support HIV Services
The
Boston Public Health Commission announced today that the city of Boston
has received $14.3 million under the federal Ryan White Part A Program
to provide a range of critical HIV health and support services to the
more than 15,000 people living with HIV/AIDS in Boston and the
surrounding area. This year’s funding represents a 10 percent increase
over last year’s award.
“These
funds will allow us to continue to make a positive impact on the lives
of those living with HIV,” said Barbara Ferrer, executive director of
the Boston Public Health Commission. “Through an increase in medical
case management, nutrition services, and housing assistance, our clients
will benefit from a whole health approach to managing their condition,
as well as combating other chronic diseases.”
Clients
from seven counties in Massachusetts and three counties in southern New
Hampshire will directly benefit from the increase. The Boston Public
Health Commission (BPHC) administers the funds to local community health
centers and other community-based organizations from Boston to
Worcester, down to New Bedford, and north to Nashua. A total of 37
agencies, comprised of 63 programs, have been awarded Ryan White funding
by the Commission. These organizations provide a range of services
including access to medications, comprehensive case management, oral
health care, substance abuse and mental health services, home delivered
meals, housing support, transportation, and support groups.
“It is critically important to keep people living with HIV (PLWH) engaged in care, adhering to medication, and achieving positive health outcomes,” said Michael Goldrosen, Director of BPHC’s HIV/AIDS Services Division. “These funds will help ensure that we can maintain an accessible and comprehensive system of HIV care.”
“As
the Affordable Care Act is implemented throughout the country, the care
model created here in this region demonstrates how critically important
Ryan White funding is to providing comprehensive care.” said Michael
Goldrosen, Director of BPHC HIV/AIDS Services Division. “Our expansive
services ensure our clients adhere to treatment, stay in medical care
and have more successful health outcomes, while also reducing HIV
transmission.”
Additional
services and access to care will be particular important in the
region’s communities of color, where HIV/AIDS rates are 5-6 times
higher. People of color and men who have
sex with men (who may or may not identify as gay or bisexual) are
disproportionally affected. Of the 196 cases of HIV diagnosed in Boston
in 2011, 68% were Black or Latino and 47% were men who have sex with
men. The Minority AIDS Initiative, a subset of Ryan White, will provide
continued assistance and additional medical case management and peer
support services to African American and Hispanic clients in the area
with the bolstered funding.
The
Ryan White Program is named after Ryan White who was diagnosed with
AIDS at age 13. He and his mother fought for his right to attend school,
gaining international attention as a voice of reason about HIV/AIDS. At
the age of 18, Ryan White died on April 8, 1990, just months before
Congress passed the AIDS bill that bears his name – the Ryan White
Comprehensive AIDS Resources Emergency (CARE) Act. The legislation has
been reauthorized four times since – in 1996, 2000, 2006, and 2009 – and
is now called the Ryan White HIV/AIDS Program.
Nationally,
the Ryan White Program provides more than $2 billion in funding each
year to urban areas (referred to as “Part A” of the legislation) and
states (“Part B”), as well as outpatient health services (“Part C”) and
services for women, infants, children, and youth living with HIV (“Part
D”). This is twenty-third year that Boston has received funding.
For more information on the Ryan White funding, visit
www.bphc.org.
