HHS Secretary Xavier Becerra, left, and HRSA Administrator Carole Johnson

The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, through the Health Resources and Services Administration, has announced more than $68 million in Ryan White HIV/AIDS Program funding to provide family-centered medical care and essential support services for women with low incomes, infants, children and youth with HIV. The funding is intended to support and advance the Biden-Harris administration’s National HIV/AIDs Strategy.

HRSA Administrator Carole Johnson announced the awards during the latest state convening of HRSA’s Enhancing Maternal Health Initiative at Morgan State University in Baltimore.  Last year, HRSA launched the Maternal Health Research Collaborative for Minority Serving Institutions to improve maternal health disparities research and identification of community-based solutions. HRSA is investing $50 million over five years in the collaborative.

HHS Secretary Xavier Becerra said, “HHS is committed to helping new moms and their babies stay healthy, so we are making vital health care services — including care for those living with HIV — available and accessible. The funding that HRSA is announcing today (Wednesday, July 31) will provide resources to promote the health and well-being of women, infants and children in communities across the country.”

Johnson said, “We know that many women with HIV continue to face barriers accessing HIV care and treatment, including stigma and lack of social support. Through this funding, community-based organizations across the country will deliver lifesaving, culturally responsive HIV care to help women with HIV access the health care they need and live long, healthy lives.”

HRSA’s Ryan White HIV/AIDS Program provides a comprehensive system of HIV primary medical care, medication and needed support services to more than 560,000 people with HIV who have low incomes. The program “focuses on tailoring approaches to best meet people with HIV and their communities where they are and addressing factors — like access to food, child care, housing and transportation  — that directly affect the ability of patients to enter and stay in care,” according to an HHS press release.

More than 142,000 women received services from the Ryan White HIV/AIDS Program  in 2022, representing a quarter of all clients in the program. Additionally, 89.9 percent of female clients receiving Ryan White HIV/AIDS Program medical care reached viral suppression, meaning they cannot sexually transmit HIV to other people. The science is clear that ‘undetectable = untransmittable,’ meaning that a fully suppressed and undetectable viral load prevents the transmission of HIV to others.

Today’s funding through the Ryan White HIV/AIDS Program is part of HRSA’s comprehensive work to advance maternal health outcomes. HRSA’s Enhancing Maternal Health Initiative is focused on accelerating HRSA’s maternal health work to address maternal mortality and maternal health disparities in partnership with women, grant recipients, community organizations, and state and local health officials across the country, the HHS press release noted.

For more information about HRSA’s Ryan White HIV/AIDS Program, visit the website here.

— Tammye Nash