Description
The Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) announces the availability of funds to expand the capacity of Minority AIDS Initiative (MAI) grantees in the Center for Substance Abuse Treatment (CSAT) and Center for Substance Abuse Prevention (CSAP), and Criminal Justice (CJ) grantees in CSAT and CMHS, to provide rapid HIV testing (RHT), counseling and referral to care. There is a critical need to increase testing activities among individuals who are at risk for HIV, and especially African-American and Latino/Hispanic men and women who are not aware of their sero-status, including men and women in the criminal justice system, heterosexual women who are sexual partners of people with substance use disorders, transgender women, and young men who have sex with men (MSM). HIV/AIDS has had a devastating impact on minorities in the United States. According to the CDC1, racial and ethnic minorities accounted for almost 71 percent of the newly diagnosed cases of HIV infection in 2010. In 2010, 84 percent of children born with HIV infection belong to minority groups. African-Americans accounted for 46 percent of all HIV infection cases diagnosed in 2010. African-American men are 9.8 times more likely to die of AIDS than non-Hispanic White men and African American women are almost 23 times more likely to die from HIV/AIDS, as compared to non-Hispanic White women. HIV/AIDS is spreading at a rapid rate in Hispanic populations as well. Hispanics accounted for 20 percent of AIDS cases in 2010, despite making up only 16 percent of the U.S. population. Hispanics are almost three times more likely to be diagnosed with AIDS than Whites. Hispanic males were also 2.5 times more likely to die of AIDS than their non-Hispanic White counterparts, and Hispanic women were 3.6 times more likely to die from AIDS. There is extensive documentation of the racial dimension of incarceration in the United States, which imprisons blacks and Latinos in numbers far out of proportion to their numbers in the general population. Researchers have correlated high rates of incarceration with high rates of sexually transmitted disease in nearby communities (Comfort, M., "HIV Risk among male prisoners, formerly incarcerated men and their female partners," Center for AIDS Prevention Studies, University of California at San Francisco, 2010.) Individuals with substance use disorders are at increased risk for HIV/AIDS as a result of either sharing contaminated syringes or by exhibiting impaired judgment while under the influence of a legal or illegal drug with abuse potential (e.g., alcohol, cocaine, methamphetamine, marijuana, prescription, and/or other non-injection drugs) which may increase high-risk sexual behavior associated with HIV infection and transmission. HIV prevention and testing among incarcerated minority populations has a positive effect on the inmates as well as their sexual partners, including Black and Latino women, in the communities into which they are discharged. Earlier detection and treatment can delay HIV disease progression and significantly reduce viral load. The National HIV/AIDS Strategy (NHAS) clearly articulates the need for resources to be strategically concentrated in areas with high rates of HIV infection, and the need for targeting specific population subgroups at higher risk, such as those connected to the criminal justice system. Key goals of the NHAS include: 1) reducing the number of people who become infected with HIV, 2) increasing access to care and optimizing health outcomes for people living with HIV, and 3) reducing HIV-related health disparities (p. vii, National HIV AIDS Strategy, Office of National AIDS Policy, the White House, Washington, DC, 2010). The RHT supplements program will support the goal of reducing the number of new HIV infections by increasing the number of people who know their HIV status through the provision of HIV rapid testing to high-risk populations. Supplemental grant funds must be used for the following activities: Purchase of rapid HIV test kits, test controls, other required supplies (e.g., gloves, biohazardous waste containers, etc.); Implementation of quality assurance measures to appropriately conduct rapid HIV testing; and Training for staff related to HIV rapid testing. In addition to providing rapid HIV testing, applicants must develop a plan for providing referrals that include, but are not limited to primary health care, and mental health and medical services for those who are HIV positive, have AIDS, or are at high-risk of HIV infection. Successful applicants must also incorporate individuals served as a result of the supplemental activities into your ongoing Government Performance and Results Modernization Act of 2010 (GPRA) activities. RHT supplements are authorized under Section 509 of the Public Health Service Act, as amended. This announcement addresses Healthy People 2020 Substance Abuse Topic Area HP 2020-SA. SAMHSA strongly encourages all grantees to provide a smoke-free workplace and to promote abstinence from all tobacco products (except in regard to accepted tribal traditions and practices).