Date: August 16, 1995
For Release: Immediately
Contact: Bonnie Aikman, HRSA (301) 443-3376

HRSA Awards $23.3 Million for AIDS Work
with Children and Families

HHS Secretary Donna E. Shalala today announced the award of $23.3 million in grants for improved access to HIV comprehensive care and clinical research trials for children, youth and women living with HIV and for their families.

The awards are being made under Title IV of the Ryan White Comprehensive AIDS Resources Emergency Act, and are administered by the Maternal and Child Health Bureau of the Health Resources and Services Administration. HRSA is an agency of the Public Health Service within HHS.

The awards will be given to a wide variety of organizations and state and local agencies, from the University of Colorado Health Sciences Center to the Metrolina AIDS Project in Charlotte, N.C. to the Ventura County Public Health Department in California.

"AIDS is inflicting a cruel toll on women and children and on their families," said Secretary Shalala. "These funds will help provide vital support services, including comprehensive primary care and HIV specialty care, case management, counseling and support groups."

Some 25,000 women and 2,800 children are living with AIDS in the United States today. The fastest-growing category of HIV infection is among women.

Recently, the Public Health Service issued guidelines recommending that all pregnant women should be counseled about HIV and offered a test to see if they are infected with the HIV virus that causes AIDS.

PHS developed these guidelines after recent studies showed that use of the drug AZT can potentially reduce perinatal HIV transmission by two-thirds.

Assistant Secretary for Health Philip R. Lee, M.D., who directs the Public Health Service, said, "In response to these important findings about the use of AZT in the perinatal setting, these programs will also emphasize prevention and early intervention for women and their children, and the integration of HIV prevention and treatment into broader systems of primary care."

Since 1988, HRSA's Maternal and Child Health Bureau has administered the Pediatric/Family AIDS Demonstration Program, which has supported model projects that provide comprehensive, family- centered and community-based medical services to children, youth, women and families with, or at risk for, HIV and AIDS.

A major goal of the Title IV program is to make it easier for women and children to participate in clinical research trials by addressing barriers that have historically limited this ability, such as the lack of access to appropriate care, lack of transportation and child care, and lack of knowledge of protocols designed to accommodate children, youth and families.

"Clinical trials provide additional treatment options for children, youth and women living with HIV," said HRSA Administrator Ciro V. Sumaya, M.D. "Title IV projects are continuously working to improve this access through the identification of eligible clients and appropriate clinical research. The projects also give individuals an opportunity to participate in broader efforts to combat this disease, now and in the future."

In FY 1994, Congress transferred the funding of these programs to Title IV of the Ryan White CARE Act, where they are known as the HIV Program for Coordinated HIV Services and Access to Research for Children, Youth, Women and Families.

A list of the FY 1995 grantees follows:

New Women's Initiative for HIV Care and Reduction of Perinatal HIV

Transmission Grant

Family Planning Council of Southeastern $ 175,000
Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, Pa.

Continuing Planning and Initial Development Grants

Continuing Title IV Comprehensive Care Grants

Alameda County Health Care Services Agency $ 330,000
Oakland, Calif.

Catholic Charities, Division of Children's Services 294,864
Fort Worth, Texas

Children's Hospital, Infectious Diseases Dept. 403,432
Columbus, Ohio

Children's Hospital, Pediatric AIDS Program 567,320
New Orleans, La.

Connecticut Primary Care Association 407,680
Hartford, Conn.

District of Columbia Department of Human Services 559,054
Washington, D.C.

Dominican Sisters Family Health Service, Inc. 298,500
Bronx, N.Y.

New England Hospital/Dimock Community 556,022
Health Center, Boston, Mass.

Family AIDS Center for Treatment and Support 320,320
Providence, R.I.

Health Research, Inc. for the New York 1,000,000
State Department of Health, Albany, N.Y.

Georgia Department of Human Resources 445,120
Atlanta, Ga.

Trustees of Columbia University, 1,601,600
School of Public Health, New York, N.Y.

Health Initiatives for Youth 430,000
San Francisco, Calif.

Family Planning Council of Southeastern 1,220,800
Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, Pa.

Public Health Foundation Enterprises, Inc., for
the Los Angeles Pediatric AIDS Network 680,680
City of Industry, Calif.

Hektoen Institute for Medical Research 518,790
Chicago, Ill.

Houston Regional HIV/AIDS Research Group, Inc. 460,000
Houston, Texas

Maryland Department of Health and Mental Hygiene 511,500
Baltimore, Md.

Massachusetts Department of Public Health 418,031
Boston, Mass.

New Jersey Department of Health 1,053,050
Trenton, N.J.

New York University Medical Center 295,264
New York, N.Y.

North Broward Hospital District 588,640
Ft. Lauderdale, Fla.

Puerto Rico Department of Health 468,600
San Juan, P.R.

Seattle-King County Department of Public Health 466,460
Seattle, Wash.

South Carolina Department of Health 213,357
and Environmental Control
Columbia, S.C.

University of Alabama at Birmingham 337,080
Birmingham, Ala.

University of Miami, Department of Pediatrics 938,097
Miami, Fla.

University of Minnesota, Youth & AIDS Prevention 206,109
Program, Minneapolis, Minn.

University of Texas Health Science Center 490,000
San Antonio, Texas

Continuing Hemophilia Pediatric AIDS

Special Initiative Grants

Trustees of Dartmouth College $ 75,000
Dartmouth Hitchcock Medical Center
Lebanon, N.H.

Cooperative Agreements

Institute for Family-Centered Care $ 395,000
Bethesda, Md.

University of Medicine & Dentistry, New Jersey 1,603,767
Medical School for the National Pediatric &
Family HIV Resource Center, Newark, N.J.

Albert Einstein College of Medicine 1,032,030
Bronx, N.Y.

Medical & Health Research Association of NYC, Inc. 266,079
New York, N.Y.

Montefiore Medical Center 348,881
Bronx, N.Y.

Research Foundation of the State University of 1,100,000
New York for the Brooklyn Pediatric AIDS Network
Brooklyn, N.Y.

University of South Florida College of Public 354,000
Health, Tampa, Fla.

Great Lakes Hemophilia Foundation, Inc. 250,000
Wauwatosa, Wis.

University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center 583,000
Dallas, Texas

TOTAL $23,319,531

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