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 Alabama HIV/AIDS organizations received grants of nearly $90,000 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 27% of the population in Alabama, they made up 68% of new AIDS cases reported between July of 2001 and June of 2002. In Alabama, African Americans are more than three times as likely to be under the federal poverty line as Caucasians.
"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.
"People here think of HIV/AIDS as a big city issue or a gay disease," said Sherry Atchison, director of development for the Mobile AIDS Support Services in Mobile, AL. The numbers, however, point to a dramatic increase in AIDS rates among 19 - 29-year-old African-American women in Mobile, says Atchison.
That is why Mobile AIDS Support Services is using its $40,000 grant to bring prevention and education services to an underserved community of African- American women in a housing development called Trinity Gardens.
The Foundation's new grantees in Alabama are operating an array of creative programs taking prevention and education messages to the community. Grants were awarded to the following organizations:
* Aid to Inmate Mothers ($48,864 - Montgomery, AL): This program will provide HIV prevention education seminars for inmates, prison officers, and staff of an all female prison.
* Mobile AIDS Support Services ($40,000 - Mobile, AL): The SISTA Project, designed by African-American women, will provide prevention and education programs for an underserved community of young African-African women in an urban housing development.
"I am very pleased to learn of the grants being provided to the state of Alabama by the Pfizer Foundation," said Rep. Jo Bonner (R- 1st District). "I applaud the Mobile AIDS Support Services, the Trinity Gardens SISTA Project, and the Aid to Inmate Mothers organizations for their efforts to combat HIV and AIDS with increased education and public awareness," Bonner added.
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 the 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
031120
PR031150
Copyright © 2003 - PRNewswire. All rights reserved. Reproduced with permission. Reproduction of this article (other than one copy for personal reference) must be cleared through PRNewswire, Permissions, 810 Seventh Ave., 32nd Floor, New York, NY 10019 http://www.prnewswire.com.
AEGiS is a 501(c)3, not-for-profit, tax-exempt, educational corporation. AEGiS is made possible through unrestricted funding from Broadway Cares/Equity Fights AIDS, Elton John AIDS Foundation, the National Library of Medicine, Pacific Life Foundation and donations from users like you.
Always watch for outdated information. This article first appeared in 2003. This material is designed to support, not replace, the relationship that exists between you and your doctor.
AEGiS presents published material, reprinted with permission and neither endorses nor opposes any material. All information contained on this website, including information relating to health conditions, products, and treatments, is for informational purposes only. It is often presented in summary or aggregate form. It is not meant to be a substitute for the advice provided by your own physician or other medical professionals. Always discuss treatment options with a doctor who specializes in treating HIV.
Copyright ©1980, 2003. AEGiS. All materials appearing on AEGiS are protected by copyright as a collective work or compilation under U.S. copyright and other laws and are the property of AEGiS, or the party credited as the provider of the content. .