Featured: National Black HIV/AIDS Awareness Day is February 7
National Black HIV/AIDS Awareness Day is an HIV testing and treatment community mobilization initiative targeted at Blacks in the United States and across the Diaspora. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) supports two national campaigns that target African Americans:
Take Charge, Take the Test
Testing Makes Us Stronger
For facts on how HIV affects African Americans, click here.
For facts on how HIV affects young people across the U.S., click here.
For more information about the day itself, resources, and ideas on how to be involved, click here
Resources:
Annoucements
Let’s Talk about Sexual Health video. This video, produced by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), discusses the importance of a healthy dialogue between youth and providers concerning their sexual health. The video features CDC Epidemiologist, Elizabeth Torrone, PhD MSPH. View the video here.
“Alabama Teen Pregnancy Rate Drops to Historic Low.”The Alabama Department of Public Health announced that the state’s teen birth rate has reached a significant low, falling to 20.9 per 1,000 women ages 10 to 19 in 2011. That number means that approximately 6,700 teen mothers gave birth, according to state health officials, and babies born to teenage mothers accounted for about 11.3 percent of all births in Alabama. Read the full article here.
“Health Centers Not Routinely Testing for HIV.”The Officer of the Inspector General (OIG) reported that only 20 percent of Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA)-funded clinics adhered to the CDC recommendations to provide routine HIV testing for all patients ages 13 to 64. More than half (55 percent) of the clinics followed US Preventive Services Task Force guidelines and focused HIV testing efforts on high-risk populations. Another 24 percent of HRSA-funded clinics offered HIV testing only to patients with HIV symptoms or those who requested HIV testing. One percent of the clinics tested all adult patients for HIV. Read the full article here.
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Capacity Building and Professional Development
NCSD Webinar: Preparing for the CDC/DASH MOU between Education and Health Departments. The National Coalition of STD Directors (NCSD) will host a webinar on Thursday, February 7 from 3:00-4:00 PM EST titled “Preparing for the CDC/DASH MOU between Education and Health Departments: Practical Examples of Interagency Collaborations Supporting Sexual Health.” In early 2013, CDC's Division of Adolescent and School Health (DASH) will release a funding opportunity announcement (FOA) for state and local education agencies to improve the educational and health outcomes of youth. The FOA will require a memorandum of understanding (MOU) between state/local education agencies and health departments. This webinar will provide information for education agencies on how to partner or expand current partnerships with state/local health departments. To register, click here.
Linking and Integrating Networks for Collaboration. The National Minority AIDS Council (NMAC) recently developed a capacity building assistance program primarily for health departments and HIV Prevention Planning Groups titled “Linking and Integrating Networks for Collaboration (LINC).” This program develops and enhances skills in identifying, assessing, tailoring, and adapting programmatic activities for health departments and provides technical assistance toPrevention Planning Groups (PPGs) in a variety of areas including the HIV Prevention Guidance and priority setting and community planning. To learn more about the opportunity, what states and cities this training event is open to, and how to apply online, click here.
Health Datapalooza IV Conference. This is the fourth annual national conference born from government efforts to liberate health data. It features the newest, most innovative and effective uses of health data by companies, startups, academics, government agencies and individuals. This year, for the first time, the event will be hosted by the Health Data Consortium. The conference was originally launched as part of The Health Data Initiative (HDI). The HDI was created in 2010 by the Institutes of Medicineand the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services as the Community Health Data Initiative, is a public-private collaboration that encouraged innovators to use health data to develop applications to raise awareness of health and health systems performance and spark community action to improve health. The conference will be held in Washington, DC from June 3-4, 2013. For more information about the conference and to register, click here.
Funding Opportunities
YouthBuild Grants. This grant opportunity from the Department of Labor is for organizations that oversee the provision of education, occupational skills training, and employment services to disadvantaged youth in their communities while performing meaningful work and service to their communities. The application deadline is March 19, 2013. For more information about this grant, click here.
Education Foundation of America grant opportunity. The Education Foundation of America (EFA) makes grants to qualifying non-profit organizations for specific projects. Areas of interest include, but are not limited to, the environment, reproductive freedom, theatre, education, medicine, drug policy reform, democracy, peace & national security issues and human services. EFA welcomes inquires for proposals at any time. To review guidelines for submitting a Letter of Inquiry report and for more details about the foundation, click here.
Recent Publications
Targeting HIV Prevention Messaging to a New Generation of Gay, Bisexual, and Other Young Men Who Have Sex With Men. In this study, the authors examined six venues in which young men who have sex with men are exposed to, pay attention to, and access HIV prevention messaging: the Internet, bars/dance clubs, print media, clinics/doctors’ offices, community centers/agencies, and educational classes. The study found that attention paid to HIV prevention messages in various venues differed by age and sexual orientation and across all venues; YMSM were more likely to access HIV messaging from the same venues at which they paid attention. Therefore, the study suggests that the one-size-fits-all approach does not hold true, and both the venue and person characteristics must be considered when generating and disseminating HIV prevention messaging. The article can be accessed here.
Safer Sex Media Messages and Adolescent Sexual Behavior: 3-Year Follow-Up Results from Project iMPPACS. This study estimated the long-term effects of Project iMPPACS, a multisite randomized controlled trial of mass media and small-group intervention for African American adolescents. The study estimated the effects of three types of mass media messages (the thematic indicators: selection, pleasure, and negotiation) on condom use intention and self-reported unprotected vaginal sex events. All three mediators of behavior change that were introduced during the media intervention were sustained at the follow-up assessments at least 18 months after the intervention ended. Project iMPPACS demonstrated that mass media influence delivered over an extended period, persisted after the media program ended. Read more about the article here.
Delayed Entry into and Failure to Remain in HIV Care Among HIV-Infected Adolescents. This study identified factors associated with HIV positive adolescents who delayed entry into HIV care (DEC) after diagnosis of HIV or who fail to remain in care afterward (FRC). The study reviewed clinical, demographic, and social data from the records of HIV-positive adolescents who acquired HIV via high-risk behaviors. Factors independently associated with DEC were unstable residence and, compared with less education, college attendance. Compared with college attendees, high school students and those who dropped out of high school were more like to FRC. Compared with adolescents with private insurance, adolescents without insurance (despite access to free care) were more likely to FRC. Controlling for sex, adolescents with children were more likely to FRC. As a result, interventions to avoid DEC that target HIV positive adolescents with unstable residences or those diagnosed while attending college are warranted. Among patients engaged in care, those with only high school education or without insurance—which may be markers for socioeconomic status—need additional attention to keep them in care. Read more about the article here.
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