Important note: Information in this article was accurate in 2003. The state of the art may have changed since the publication date.
PRNewswire - November 20, 2003
Three Texas HIV/AIDS organizations received initial grants of $150,000 from the Pfizer Foundation Southern HIV/AIDS Prevention Initiative. The grants are part of a $3 million, three-year Initiative to fund highly targeted prevention programs to underserved populations in Florida, Alabama, Georgia, Louisiana, Mississippi, North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee, and Texas. Grants awarded during this funding cycle totaled more than $1 million with ongoing technical assistance from the Foundation.
Although African Americans and Latinos account for just 47% of the population in Texas, they made up 67% of new AIDS cases reported between July of 2001 and June of 2002. At the end of 2001, there were an estimated 24,936 people living with AIDS in Texas, fourth most in the nation.
"By partnering with organizations in small towns and big cities across the South, we hope to help slow the increasing incidence of HIV/AIDS," said Caroline Roan, secretary of the Pfizer Foundation. "We know that tackling HIV/AIDS -- the most catastrophic health challenge of our time -- demands that we work and partner together as governments and communities, and corporations and foundations," Roan added.
When local HIV-positive inmates are released from prison, the Prison In Reach Project, a program of Renaissance III in Dallas, TX, wants to make sure that they have follow up care and that they don't spread the disease.
"We found a number of HIV-positive men who were coming out of prison, were being lost to follow up, and infecting their girlfriends and wives," said Don Sneed, executive director of Renaissance III who is also HIV-positive and a former inmate.
The Foundation's new grantees in Texas are operating an array of creative programs taking prevention and education messages to the community. Grants were awarded to the following organizations:
* International AIDS Empowerment ($50,000 - El Paso, TX): The El Paso border area is the target of prevention programs. The Caring through Education component will train HIV-positive clients to be spokespeople to tell their own story to school children and youth in the community.
* Mujeres Unidas Contra El SIDA ($50,000 - San Antonio, TX): The organization will expand its outreach to newly diagnosed Latina women, while using focus group discussions to teach parents how best to educate their children about HIV, STDS, drugs, and condoms.
* Renaissance III ($50,000 - Dallas, TX): The Prison In Reach Project provides incarcerated African-American men and those recently released, with health education and HIV prevention skills. The program also provides services and HIV testing for their partners.
"The HIV/AIDS epidemic is real and demands a collective response from government, from the community, and from corporations," said Congressman Charles A. Gonzalez (D-20th District). "HIV/AIDS prevention organizations like those receiving grants from the Pfizer Foundation are serving our communities well, but they too need to be supported."
Since 2001, 46 percent of the estimated new HIV/AIDS cases in the U.S. have been reported in the South. While the southern region accounts for little more than one-third of the total population, it is where 40 percent of the people estimated to be living with AIDS call home.
The Pfizer Foundation, established by Pfizer Inc, has worked for a half a century, in partnership with community-based organizations to ensure access to quality healthcare for those individuals most in need.
SOURCE The Pfizer Foundation
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PR031156
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