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
Two Mississippi HIV/AIDS organizations received initial grants of nearly $59,000 from the Pfizer Foundation Southern HIV/AIDS Prevention Initiative.
The grants are part of the $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 account for just 38% of the population in Mississippi, they made up 76% of new AIDS cases reported between July of 2001 and June of 2002. The 31st largest state in the nation, Mississippi has the 11th highest AIDS case rate at 14.6 cases per 100,000 people.
"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 as corporations and foundations," Roan added.
"If students can get to us, we can get to them with HIV/AIDS prevention services and education," said LaMonica Ernest, director of development at the South Mississippi AIDS Task Force in Biloxi, MS. The Task Force is using drama and the performing arts to not only reach and train teens as peer educators, but to also educate their parents and teachers.
Says Ernest: "HIV is a crisis in Mississippi. It's in our own backyard." The Foundation's new grantees in Mississippi are operating an array of creative programs taking prevention and education messages to the community. Grants were awarded to the following organizations:
* South Mississippi AIDS Task Force ($50,000 - Biloxi, MS): The grant will support an educational guide for students about HIV/AIDS that will be distributed to schools and community groups. A creative consultant will work with youth peer educators to develop a theater program based on the guide that will be recorded and distributed on DVD.
* HIV Services, Inc. ($8,800 - Vicksburg, MS): The grant will support a locally based media information, community prevention, and education program. Local volunteers will create 15 radio and cable channel educational and/or high impact prevention segments a year over the next 3 years. A library of education segments will also be created, so that other communities with similar needs can use or replicate them.
"The support of the Pfizer Foundation and other industry leaders in the fight against HIV/AIDS is crucial," said Congressman Bennie Thompson (D-2nd District). "The grants being awarded today will be a tremendous support to the rural communities in the Second District."
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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PR031157
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